About the Novel
In early May of 2009, I didn't end up getting the job promotion I'd hoped for at work. Instead of quitting out of rage, I decided to actually start writing a novel with the hopes that it would one day make me enough money that I could quit my job out of not needing the money any more.
The outlining idea for my novel was one that I'd come up with several years before when I first started university. The rough outline was of a guy who wrangled shopping carts for a living. Some people tell me that I am just copying the idea of Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys, but I can honestly say that I knew nothing of Trailer Park Boys when I was nineteen and drinking a coffee on the doorstep of my parents' house and a truck drove by with a few shopping carts in the back. So fuck off, Trailer Park fanboys.
Nevertheless, I never had the time to write that story while I was in university. Originally the plot had to do with a guy who ended up finding a bag full of cocaine in a shopping cart. He dumped the drugs into the river, and the dealers eventually went after him. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the kind of story I'd usually write, nor was it the kind of story that delivered any sort of real thrill. Over the course of the writing, my novel eventually became an elaborated form of angst, religious frustration, and deep realms of ketamine usage. And honestly, that's about as much as I'm willing to share.
My goal was to write at least 500 words per day. Some days I wrote more, some days less. Granted, 500 words isn't a whole lot, but I hadn't written anything large or serious for nearly two years. It took a while to adjust to writing without focusing too much on the details, but I spent the entire blistering summer slapping those keys, and I had a 60,000 word novel by the time Sepember came.
I finished writing my first draft the day that I was promoted at work to a department manager position. I'm currently in the process of editing. I keep my draft in my locker at work, so I can do the editing during my unpaid 45 minute breaks.