“Plan of last part”

This was Rand’s 14-page summary of how the novel would end, dated early April 1938. This was likely right around when she identified Roark dynamiting a housing project as the climax, so this was her very first conception of how the aftermath of that event would go. (See this item for the detailed outline that matches this summary.)

Readers will see that this proposed ending to the novel is very different from the actual ending that Rand later wrote. It is both longer and more complex; Rand estimated at the top of this summary that it would take her 20 chapters to complete the novel from this point, while in the final there are only seven chapters between the dynamiting of Cortlandt and the end of the book. As in other places, there is additional dramatic action in her original conception for the ending, but Rand ultimately streamlined this initial plan down to what was truly essential for the plot, while keeping the dramatic tension high.