I finished chapter 26 yesterday afternoon. In that chapter, the currently prominent villain (Listeria) discovers the protagonist’s secret. This action should lead to the act’s finale and the protagonist’s flight (once more. It’s funny that she has to run away at each act’s end… so far).

I am now faced with this prospect : I know how the act ends and I now have enough information so that I can trigger that act’s end whenever I want it. The thing is now, I have no idea what I should do right now.

I can already hear some voices (including my own) saying, “you’re a discovery writer, so write and find out.” (Jordan often used RAFO, I might have to invent WAFO). The thing is, I have several choices before me today:

* Trigger the act’s end right now. This is the easy way out, but it might lack some setting. Sure, the villain now has the info, but I think that she needs to work on that intel before she confronts the protagonist

* Change viewpoints. At the moment, I think I have to make the reader see more of one side character (the one who’s going to get the axe at the end of the book), so that I can strenghten the emotional impact at the end of the book. The thing is, maybe I should have put it earlier in the act. To put this now would probably deflate much of the tension in the second act right now.

* Show more padawan scenes (if you see what I mean). These should be in the third act, but maybe I need the protagonist to know more before she flees. Maybe the flight itself needs her to know more about her powers.

* Build some tension by showing the villain plot the protagonist’s downfall. That’s really the smart thing to do here. The thing is, last chapter was in the villain’s viewpoint. I don’t want to show two villain chapters in a row (except if those chapters are in different viewpoints). Maybe even I need to keep the villain’s plotting from the reader, so that the act’s end is surprising. By the way, I still have to think about those plans of the villain.

Decisions, decisions…

Too many options and way not enough outline. Sometimes, being a discovery writer is way too complicated.

I hope that the reader gets as much tension as I have right now, but somewhat, I doubt it.

I think I have to think more about that ending scene, maybe ask myself what would the characters do. I know them pretty well by now, I should be able to think about something!