For a handful of exercises this month, we’ll look to works from the long and living legacy of Japanese literature for sparks of inspiration.

For today’s ten-minute writing exercise:

In The Tale of Genji, most of the characters are unnamed — they’re referred to by honorifics or by their role, like Heir Apparent. Recount the plot events of a work in progress or a story you know well, but you must identify who is acting, speaking, and thinking without using their names.

Our themes this month are:

• First lines and beginnings
• The 3am Epiphany by Brian Kitely
• Sparks from Japanese literature
• Borrowed forms

We also wrote a complete work of flash fiction together the week of Monday, January 20 – Sunday, January 26.

We’ll do this all again in February with a new set of themes and a one-week flash fiction interlude. See you tomorrow for a new day of writing, and a reveal of our February themes!