One stroke of lightning does not have to lead anywhere, but to the next stroke of lightning.
You want in all cases for the story to get through the writing.
Every year, when you're a child, you become a different person.
That's something I think is growing on me as I get older: happy endings.
It almost seemed as if there must be some random and of course unfair thrift in the emotional housekeeping of the world, if the great happiness--however temporary, however flimsy--of one person could come out of the great unhappiness of another.
I don't always, or even usually, read stories from beginning to end. I start anywhere and proceed in either direction. A story is not like a road to follow, it's more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while.