Thanks. One of the best bits of writing-starting advice I was ever given was by the man who would become my thesis advisor, Ralph Lombreglia (he has an amazing story in Toby Wolff's collection of Best American Short Stories called 'Men Under Water'). He quoted me someone who'd said, "If headlights only illuminate the fifty feet in front of our cars, how is it that we can drive a hundred miles in the dark?" It helped me just keep pressing into the story, trusting that the light would keep moving ahead and allowing me to see what was next.
Re: Yes you can.