November is...

November is...
Originally uploaded by nataliesap

National Novel Writing Month and I'm hoping to do just that - write at least a 50,000 word novel in a month.

This is the first time I've attempted this feat and I'm hoping that I can accomplish it and "win" NANO (to "win", means that you finish) which would be a massive accomplishment.

For me, the hardest part about writing a novel is getting the words out quickly, which means getting them out before I start obsessing over grammar and mechanics and spending an hour or two on one sentence or paragraph. Writing it hard work - really hard work - but it's work that I enjoy and I'm really committed to this new novel.

Before you ask, no, I haven't given up on my other novel by any means and am still working on it, although it's been on the back burner ever since we decided to switch the perspective again. This project is different in that its subject matter is based loosely on several experiences that are very personal and dear to me and to others I'm close to. I'm writing this novel for many reasons but primarily because I can't not write it - it's inside of me and wants to come out and has decided that now is the time.

I'm not good at writing pitches - that's something I really need to work on - but I had to write one when I signed up on the NaNo website so I thought I would end with it:

Those Who Remain Behind
by Ali K. La Pointe

When a teenage boy dies in a cabin fire, the lives of three woman - his mother, his girlfriend, and his teacher - are aligned in grief. But when the funeral is over and each woman goes her separate way, she finds that in the days that follow, she is not alone.

Those Who Remain Behind is the story of a boy trying to find his way to the afterworld and the woman who just can't let him go.