And Now We Write

  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 30: Writing Exercise – Unnamed Characters

    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…

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  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 19: Writing Exercise – Sea Students

    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 Inter Ice Age 4, Kobo Abe imagined a world where children can be genetically engineered to live aquatically once the polar ice caps melt. Write…

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  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 15: Writing Exercise – Eyewitness Testimony

    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 Akutagawa short story “In a Grove,” which was adapted into the movie Rashomon, a series of characters give testimony on the events leading up…

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  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 11: Writing Exercise – Road Trip

    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: Shank’s Mare is a comic novel from the Edo period recounting stories from the road as two bawdy grifters travel from Edo to Kyoto. Their primary…

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  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 7: Writing Exercise – Cat’s-Eye View

    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 Natsume Sosheki’s I Am A Cat, a supercilious housecat tells stories about the foolishness of the people around him. Have a hoity toity housecat narrate…

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  • 2025 Writing Challenge Day 3: Writing Exercise – List of Moving Things

    This month focuses on Japanese literature, featuring writing exercises inspired by works like The Pillow Book.

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