The next great...Japanese Cell Phone Novel

When was the last time you read a book? When was the last time you checked your cell phone? (Go on, take a minute, and see if you have a new message…)

There is a new form of media that combines the best of both worlds, the Cell Phone Novel. This media is gaining more and more attention, especially in Japan. These books are created not by some author typing away in solitude, but by people of all ages via txt message on busy public transit, in class, or anywhere a quick moment can be stolen away and crystallized into inspiration.

When I began researching this movement I was faced with something I never have before…a clash of cultures forming a wall between myself and something I want to read.
Since I am lucky enough to live and grow up in a country that speaks the most widely recognized language, so far everything I have wished to read or experience has been easily located translated into English. However, since the Cell Phone Novel began in Japan, the most recognized and influential volumes are found in…Japanese!

The Cell Phone Novel found its origins in a Japanese homepage, Maho no i-rando, a program tweaked by savvy programmers when a sudden flood of txt messages creating stories started appearing. The site compiled these messages and the Cell Phone Novel was born. Last year in Japan five of the top ten best sellers began as Cell Phone Novels and due to popular download they were mass published, and quietly infiltrated the traditional author/publisher/reader relationship.

Because of the obvious limitations that exist from writing on a cell phone a Cell Phone Novel is vastly different from your normal book. The author utilizes emoticons such as :) :( :D :P ;), and is able to focus less on setting. This also means that each reader will have a different experience, depending on when and where they read each installment. This new “genre” has caused a quiet uproar from reviewers as they decry the lack of setting, barely developed character and abrupt phrasing. However, since 89% of Americans have a cell phone, and the number of txts sent from month to month is continually increasing, this new form of media may inspire those who are quick to pick up the phone, but slow to pick up a book. Teachers can utilize this new form to connect with their students and encourage them to create using a tool with which they are familiar.

Of course when I was researching all the ways to read novels on my phone I kept running across the Kindle by Amazon. After doing some reading up on this hand-held reader I almost want one! It would be like carrying a library (up to 200 volumes) with me everywhere I go! Still, the price (almost four hundred dollars) and the criticized design (the buttons are all over the place) discouraged me from considering this for too long. Perhaps this conclusion places me alongside the scoffers of the Cell Phone Novel, but the simple pleasure of reading a real book is not one I am going to completely abandon.

The best example I have found in America for our own Cell Phone Novel is QuillPill.com, a site that reminds me of Twitter in a way, minus the chains of replies or direct messages. If I was writing only one Cell Phone Novel as a hobby I would probably create a separate Twitter just for it, but if you want to join QuillPill.com you can send a beta request. I plan on doing this, and you can watch as I struggle to capture the essence of the just out of reach Japanese Cell Phone Novel I am now so intrigued by.

To read more, check out this NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html
I will add my QuillPill here as soon as my very beseeching invitation request is granted!
Until then...
yours!
Hana G.

*Updated*
here is my QuillPill, ye faithfull followers!
:)
Hana
http://quillpill.com/author/Moodringeyes