More novel after three months

First, I'll be able to treat writing as my full-time job now, I got my disability. This also means that I can be less stressed with my free time.

In September I said I was taking time off to finish the novel. Then, I think I had 102,000 words written and had 33,000 to go, at most. Now I have 142,000 words written with 58,000 to go, at most. As you'll notice, that's a slight net loss. Comical, I know, the finish line that runs away from you. I can't wait for work to finally reduce my workload.

The problem isn't that I don't know how to end it. I've always had the scenes very well thought out (with a few changes). The problem is, I didn't know everything that came between, and with any scene I write I have a sworn duty to make it as interesting as possible, so they tend to take on a life of their own. It looks like I know just about everything that follows-- just about, and everything that could possibly be set up for it has been. So, I think 200,000 words, (or 660 pages) will do it. I wrote down a list of scenes and it looks like I'm finally safe in saying exactly where it will end. Considering I'm now able to write 8 hours a day, finally, I could conceivably get this done in 11 weeks.

So, what is this novel about? It's about a girl who's found unconscious in the snow with cut scars and needle marks all over her arms and is presumed to be a junky, but it turns out she's a werewolf.

If it sounds familiar to you, then you are familiar with Ginger Snaps: Unleashed. My novel is an alternate sequel to the movie Ginger Snaps. I started it as a practice exercise to prove to myself that I can write a book, and Ginger Snaps did inspire me that much. It wasn't that long before that I decided I wanted a bit more attention for it, so I've been posting it on fanfiction.net.

Why I loved the movie Ginger Snaps this much is a question for a different post. I'm going to post an analysis of the movie on youtube. As soon as I can figure out how to edit, but suffice to say, I really loved the characters. The theme is about devotion, the meaning of it, and its failures. As I said, though, it's better left to its own post. It has a subtext in its directing, and that's more dimensions than you find with almost any Hollywood movie now.

That all being said, Ginger Snaps is not my whole life, and even though I'm committing time writing a practice novel based on it, I just want the novel to be finished so I could go on to a project that I am going to sell.

Though it does feel good to finally write while getting paid. I'm not going to be able to retire, so it looks like this is my job for the rest of my life, which makes me happy, finally.

Update 12/26/10 01:40 a.m. Correction, it actually looks like it may run 210,000 words, or about 700 pages.