The Little Rory That Could

So my novel has been swinging between bouts of picking up steam and derailing beautifully before my eyes. I'm trying to keep myself going by turning the phrase "it's only a firts draft" into my mantra but it doesn't always work. I mean, my word count is rising and my characters keep surprsing me with the ways and means they use to achieve their goals.

But I have been struggling a bit with a new development. I just realized today that I might have accidently created a "Duckie" character with my book and am not sure how to handle that. A Duckie is a character from 'Pretty in Pink' who as an archetype is the goofy, odd ball character who has incredible chemistry with my main character (MC) but is not supposed to be the love interest that wins out in the end.

So now I find myself wondering if I am going to create disappointment with my book (if it is ever published) by having this great character who is so lovely and flawed and fun not being my MC happy ending. So now I do the dance of 'how to fix what isn't broken' without ruining everything yet to come. Which then makes my hands feel tied everything time I sit down to write because I am at a loss.

There is a part of my that says I should just keep going, regardless of the original plot, and just see what happens. But without knowing the end of the plot I could create a hot mess.

"It's just a first draft, it's just a first draft, it's just a first draft."