The uphill battle that is catching up is rather discouraging, and it's tempting to give up at this point. I'll have to work at double speed to finish on time, and that seems a pretty big ask considering how slowly I've been going so far. Perhaps it's time to chalk this up as one big Bad Idea and call it a day?
It's at times like this that I need to remember the heroic and tragic "plot embryo" structures. When I first learned about these two character arc templates, I was surprised to realise that they are almost identical at the start.
Both the heroic and the tragic protagonist discover a need, set a goal, and take steps to achieve it. Both meet with and overcome various obstacles, until they hit their lowest point. Then the paths diverge.
The tragic protagonist becomes overwhelmed by despair, and their story ends. Often in death, either of the character or of their dreams. There's no way back from this, and the character is lost. The heroic protagonist also faces despair, but is able to resist it and move on to the rest of their story.
Although the tragedy is usually foreshadowed, there is often a moment where the tragic protagonist could have turned the story around. The Valjean/Javert contrast, where they both have their lives turned upside down by a single act of kindness -- and the different reactions they have to that moment. One to hope, a new life, and a sense of purpose; the other to despair and death.
The tragic and heroic are so closely intertwined that we usually can't tell which path we're on until we look back. In this moment, I choose to see how much work lies ahead of me, accept that I haven't made the best choices with respect to my stated goals, and then keep going.
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