The end of Housesitting is not nigh...

... but it is, as of this morning, plotted.

Late last night, brain fried and unable to write, I found myself plotting further along towards the end of Housesitting. I had several endings in mind already:

• The 'happy' ending.
• The sexy, possibly (probably) twisted ending.
• The sequel setup.

How to get them all together into one place, naturally, without forcing it too much (although, I use coincidence as much as any other writer) was the tricky part.

Particularly the 'possibly twisted' ending. Reading my plotting notes again and again I just didn't see how the characters I'm writing now would possibly end up there, knowing the things that will happen to them in-between.

I could also see, quite possibly, people throwing the book away in disgust at what I had planned, frankly. You can ask me just what this situation was, post-publication.

So, I had to resolve all these things, pull some plot strings together and not make it seem entirely contrived. And I think I have it. I managed to get an extra subplot in which I'm looking forward to writing (which also, bonus, makes sense), I managed to resolve a big subplot in what looks, in plot form at least, to be pretty elegant... and I managed to even resolve the 'possibly twisted' ending into what I hope will be a good, emotional payoff.

There's a strong temptation when you plot, sometimes, to just stop writing. It's easy to do. You've 'told the story' - it's right there on paper. Of course, you can't show it to anyone and expect them to appreciate it. The fun is in the details.

Now of course, I'm staring at all this plot and my head is spinning over word count. But at least I have a map to get to where I need to go. An ending! Hurrah!