Finding the end in the beginning

A few months ago, I wrote about taking an emergent approach to writing my first novel, letting the story unfold organically rather than planning everything out ahead of time. As I’m rounding the corner on completing the story, I currently have a lot of unresolved plot threads and I’m now faced with the problem of how they will all come together.

I've had friends and family read parts of the story and give me feedback, but recently I decided to get input from a professional script reader who focused on my opening chapters. His feedback helped clarify something I'd been struggling with.

What the reader pointed out

I'd been thinking about June's story mainly in terms of external plot progression—the rescue mission, defeating the villain, getting home. But the reader identified an internal journey that I wasn’t fully conscious of.

He wrote: "Character arcs are all about worldview changes. The choices and actions characters take express and represent the change in worldview, but what's important is how and when their beliefs change."

The reader pointed out that June doesn't stand up for herself at the beginning. She lets her mother dismiss her concerns about swimming lessons. She retreats into imagination instead of asserting herself. Even in the fantasy world, she lets the villain manipulate her into compliance.

He asked a crucial question: What belief does June harbour about herself that enables this behavior?

Reading this, I realized June's core issue isn't just shyness or conflict avoidance. She believes she can't be heard and can't truly connect with others. There's something about her sense of being different that makes her feel fundamentally separate from the world around her. This extends to her belief about her ability to make any impact on the world around her. She can't connect, she can't share, and she can't act to improve her life.

Closing the loops

I’ve recently compiled a spreadsheet with around 30 unresolved plot elements – everything from June's return to her original world to the fate of the forest creatures to the true nature of the corruptive forces. I don’t expect 100% of them to resolve within the confines of the story, but the reader’s feedback helped me understand what the most important elements to resolve are.

If June's journey is really about learning to connect with others and assert herself, then many of those plot threads will likely resolve naturally around that central transformation. Her friendship with the star, her eventual confrontation with her bully, her relationship with her mother – they're all connected to the same internal shift.

The reader's insight makes me want to go back and make June's starting worldview clearer in the opening chapters. If readers can see her belief that she's too different to connect, then her growth throughout the story becomes more visible and meaningful.

It also clarifies what needs to happen in the ending. June doesn't just need to complete her mission, she needs to do it in a way that transforms her understanding of herself. By defeating evil, she also changes her worldview. By taking positive action that changes the world around her, she learns that she can act, she can connect, she can form friendships. When she returns to the real world, she can bring this knowledge with her.

Importance of an outside perspective

The emergent approach had in part worked to create a character with internal logic, but I needed outside perspective to identify what that logic actually was. It turns out the foundation for the ending was already there in the beginning, but I just needed help seeing it. Going forward, I plan to continue getting iterative feedback from readers and professioanls as I work toward completing the book.

The challenge now is combining the organic writing approach with more intentional character development. I still trust that many details will resolve naturally, but I have a better sense of the internal journey they need to serve. Moving forward, I can create a conclusion that continues the story's organic journey while delivering on June’s character arc in a fulfilling and satisfying way.