Five years ago I promised myself that I would finish the first chapter of The Immortal and then decide whether to press on with the story or abandon it. I ended up doing a little of both.
Writing in sporadic bursts, I completed eight chapters of the saga of a devastatingly handsome time-travelling amnesiac and found that I had written myself into a corner. My attempt to create a convincing male protagonist had triggered the appearance of three strong female leads, all clamouring for more character development and a greater role in the narrative. The male protagonist, meanwhile, stubbornly resisted any unveiling of his hidden depths.
Teleporting and time jumps play a crucial role in the narrative. I tried to keep the inevitable inconsistencies and paradoxes to a minimum, to little avail. The story has reached the point at which the reader would normally expect a steady build-up to an exciting dénouement, a climactic confrontation between the protagonist and his adversaries.
To my guilty surprise, a few weeks ago some gentle soul purchased a copy of The Immortal. That reader (bless her!) is entitled to free updates and is no doubt wondering how the story ends. I owe it to that reader, and to myself, to bring the story to a conclusion.
I may, reluctantly, demote one of the female leads to a lesser role in the story. I may also rely on my readers’ further suspension of disbelief as I take the time jumps to an increasingly more improbable level.
The saga continues…