A Solid Month of Writing

The writer Anne Lamott is famous in some quarters for her suggestion on how to break through writer's block. "Just write a shitty first draft," she counsels, on the theory that once you have something to begin shaping, polishing and improving, everything gets easier. This month, thousands of writers are taking part in National Novel Writing Month, a group effort in diligently breaking through blocks by writing at least 50,000 words. My friend Jeff Hess is one of those taking part. I'm looking forward to his report on how it went. Meanwhile, this fine Washington Post article explains what it's all about. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a town with a paper that was all over this kind of story? I'm afraid that'll only happen if I move.