That Blasted Novel

I was talking with someone about my unfinished horror novel - the one that reached 40,000 words but that I abandoned because it was too dark.

The person said it sounded really interesting.

It got me thinking.

Can I save it and finish it?

I've mulled this before. I already had taken out some of the darker elements. I also had cut out some characters as it was becoming too cluttered.

I looked at the last part that I wrote. It's kind of sketchy; I was just trying to get it moving forward, figuring I'd go back and develop it more.

One thing that became clear to me is that I don't remember all that I did write - and I can't even remember the names of some of the characters! I have to go back and take notes. Plus, i had had some ideas about some incident later in the novel, but now i can't remember them. What happens at the party with the Chesterton-like character? How does the professor die? How does the main character get into the INS? What happens with the witch who was trying to seduce the main character? How do I keep the Native-American nurse involved?

Sigh.

Pax et bonum