What do you do when...

[Ireth]

...your WIP's ending diverts radically from what you planned before? I have written, or intended to write, no less than three plot elements in the first half of Summer's Pawn, fully intending to return to them before or at the climax; unfortunately, as I've been looking at my outline and reworking my plans, it's looking more and more like those elements are no longer going to work with the new ending I have planned. Should I try to rework those elements in ways that will fit, or cut them out entirely?

 

[yachtcaptcolby]

If you try to wedge those elements into something that's naturally flowing in a different direction, they may end up feeling like they don't fit. I'd cut them, but keep them in the back of your mind for another story. Obviously you liked something about them, so don't completely throw them out. Just save them for later.

 

[RedMorningSky]

I think you need to re-plan and just let things happen organically. That's what's happening in my WIP. Some major things I planned ended up not really fitting as well as I thought so I need to do a lot of reworking. Some of the original ideas I really like individually, but if they don't fit with the changing story then they will have to change as well. That's how I see it at least.

 

[Ireth]

You both have very good points. I do quite like the ideas I'd come up with at the start, especially the unicorns (which I've asked about elsewhere and shared a scene involving them in the Showcase), but I think it might be for the better if I trim their role way down. Much as I want to see one of my badass manly heroes galloping through the woods on the back of a unicorn, it might be better to keep them in one single appearance where they're viewed from afar and never touched. They're supposed to be very elusive and mysterious, so having my characters interact with them directly kind of spoils that.

 

[Penpilot]

Try thinking of out of the box ways they could fit, but if in the end they still don't, take out the axe. Like you said, you can still leave bits of them in as flavor.

Personally, I've had to put the axe to a bunch of 'good' plot ideas, but it's funny, something better that fits always seems to pop up to fill the space.