Project E2?

First, the good news: I have almost finished the first draft of Project E, so it should only be another 10,000 years or so until you can finally read it. I’ve only got about one more chapter left to draft and then I’ll be ready to take a short breather to focus on short stories etc. before getting down to the nitty-gritty of the 2nd draft.

Being something of a plantser, writing this first draft has been a bit of a tug-of-war with my own characters from the start. I had put together a nice plan before I started drafting so that I knew exactly what was happening in each scene, but little by little the characters behave in ways you don’t quite expect and I was forced to make small concessions, changing little things as I went. For the most part, I think it’s turned out pretty well. There’s rough edges to smooth out, sure, but that’s why we have the second draft.

However, today as I was writing the final showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist, something happened I hadn’t really bargained on. You see, I had planned this to be a standalone novel in which the bad guy would be vanquished forever and they would all live happily ever after but now I’m not so sure. My bad guy may just live to fight another day and now I wonder if there isn’t potential for a sequel after all.

If I do what my bad guy keeps trying to do, it would mean making a radical change to the climax of my story, one that would absolutely DEMAND a sequel. Sticking to my guns and writing the ending I originally planned is the safer option but… frankly, I think the ending that I drafted out this morning is better.

Well, it’s only the first draft. There’s plenty of time to change my mind and go back to the original ending if I want to and there’s plenty of time to sketch out a rough plan for what I hereby dub Project E2. Only time will tell!