On The Road

I was just writing yesterday about what this time of year means to me. Today, AmbImb confesses what's on his mind these days:

...one of those things I start thinking about and looking forward to when the weather starts to turn cooler, the days start getting shorter, the leaves change... November is NaNoWriMo, and that’s really the best of the fall things.

I had never heard of National Novel Writing Month until today, but I'm already fired up to begin my attempt at writing a 50,000 word novel. You should click on that link, it's got the whole scoop right there, but basically it's a month-long writing marathon.

The premise for NaNoWriMo is that without that magical deadline, most people will never even start writing a novel, let alone finish one. Since I was a tiny child- long before law school entered the picture- I dreamed of a career where I could write for a living. I still think it would be cool to write a novel. And the timing couldn't be better. If all goes well, my applications will be out the door by October 31, and I can start my novel on November 1.

It should be noted that the one-month novel is not without precedent, either. In fact, my literary hero, Jack Kerouac, wrote one of my favorite novels (On the Road) in three weeks. That's another story altogether; one that any aspiring NaNoWriMo Participant should read and take inspiration from.

Kerouac wrote the novel in a coffee- [and Benzedrine-]saturated, 21-day typewriter marathon at a friend's apartment in New York City in 1951... "It's the way that it was written that, in many ways, is more important than what it really is... That it kind of just spewed out of him is what it's all about."

More here.

Anyway, I'm sending this out as a challenge to anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel (who hasn't?). Especially to those who, like me, are starting law school next fall. You may not get another chance like this. Do something crazy next month and write a book. I'd love to see a gang of law bloggers hop on the bandwagon and start cranking out prose, but that's just my crazy dream.

At any rate, I'll keep you updated on my progress starting next month, which will give me something to blog about when I'm done with applications. Applications... yeah, more on those tomorrow. (Hint: something frustrating happened)

Categories: writing, life