The State Bar is sponsoring a contest to write a 140-character novel. The grand prize is an Apple iPad. Go to: www.texasbar.com/140characternovel

The creative minds that populate this website should make easy work of this assignment.

The ad's admonishment was clear: the opportunity was extended exclusively to "...attorneys licensed to practice...". As if, one - only licensed attorneys were capable of putting down in 140 characters or less, anything of value. Or, two - was it that the State Bar was hoping to prove its members were capable of such a ridiculously impossible task? For crying out loud, expecting one who is paid to be wordy, to craft a legitimate point in the space of say, a guest check at the International House of Pancakes? Really now.
But never daunted, except when it paid off in the form of sympathetic hugs and other perks, the not-so-bonafide layman considered ignoring the exclusivity of the rules and busting in anyway. But unsure if characters and words were synonymous, he decided to leave the challenge to more legitimate contestants.

A challenge for the Twitter generation, truly.

Where's MacReady when you need him?

Finally a name for this ADD challenged group. And their behavior is catching. I have a nearly 40 something lawyer who if I took his Blackberry and IPhone from him would literally come apart at the seams. His 20 something infectious buddy can't put either device down for lunch. Both are twitts, er, twitters, er what the ...?

This contest was won by someone who never lived to see a desktop computer:

"For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn."

The contest is not over; entries will be accepted through May 1.

Sorry, a little glib in my posting.

Ernest Hemingway was once challenged that even he couldn't write a complete story in less than 10 words. He replied that he could do it in six, and wrote down on a napkin "For sale: baby shoes. Never worn."

Yes, they mentioned that in the article as having inspired this contest.

nov-el   /ˈnɒvəl/ [nov-uhl]
--noun
1.a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes.

While the idea seems novel, it's hard for me to see something so spare as a novel (even when written by Hemmingway).

[This message was edited by David Newell on 03-17-10 at .]

On the flip side, you could write a novel involving 140 characters that might make War and Peace look thin. You'd probably need a spreadsheet or database just to keep them all organized. Or just number them.

Remember the kid who tried to win the Harrier Jet by complying with the letter of the rules of a cereal or soda contest?

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnR:
Remember the kid who tried to win the Harrier Jet by complying with the letter of the rules of a cereal or soda contest?

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The subsequent lawsuit proved that nobody remembers the statute of frauds once they graduate from law school:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_v._Pepsico,_Inc.

Depends on how well you develop each of the 140 characters.

There was a guy who followed through on a BurmaShave ad for a trip to Mars for 900 jars collected. He owned a grocery store and collected from customers and family. He won the trip . . . to Moers (pronounced Mars), Germany.

I thought we already wrote a pretty darn good novel on this very board. And if I recall correctly, it had at least a 140 characters. In fact, it got real complex, as each posting sent the hero zigging and zagging across the country. I was hoping that some agent would have seen it and recognized the genius in it, and we'd all be millionaires by now, but so far I don't think any one has shown any commercial interest in our novel.

Which is a pity. Not only because our efforts have not resulted in any bucks, but also because the world of Great Literature is that much more impoverished.