Many novelists have no harmonious personality and appropriate view.
I think a novel as such, anyone who wants to write it can write it. Who can write text, has a ball pointed-pen and a note and own certain ability makes a story, can write a novel anyway without a specialist training. Novel is a form of expression that has a broad entrance. But to continue to write good novels and to be a novelist is difficult.
To write a novel is not suitable for smart persons. To tell a story does at a slow pace. It is not smart work and is a succession of paraphrases as “for example” to express a personal theme. I think there’s the truth of the novel in this roundabout process.
I respect novelists who continue to write novels, they own core, will, endurance and requirement as a professional novelist.
2. When I Became A Novelist
Before I became a novelist, I ran a jazz café (The Japanese unique style café, plays jazz records.) from I was a university student. It was hard and tough work and life, but I spent the time happily. At end of my twenties, through this hard life, my mind reached a "settled and open space".
A clear spring afternoon, the 1978 opening day of the Central League, at the Meiji Jingu Stadium, I lay down on the outfield lawn bleachers and watched the game. When the first batter of the Yakult Swallows, Dave Hilton hit a fine double, at the moment, an epiphany fell into me, then he realized “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !”.
Anyway, I wrote the first manuscript of my debut novel Hear the Wind Sing as I like, but I didn’t satisfy it. So, I translated it to English and I translated the English translation to Japanese again. Then I got a neutral and flexible style that has my own natural voice.
The manuscript was adopted and was awarded a prize, so I became a novelist unexpectedly.
3. On Literature Prizes
I've kept a distance from the Japanese literary circles. Because I was an ordinary man, so I don’t know much about the circles and literature prizes. I think true writers treasure a response of which they create meaningful things and exist of readers understand the means. And I have no qualification to be a member of a literature prize committee, because I’m a too egocentric person, and to continue to write novels I must be egocentric.
4. On Originality
I think conditions that we can mention a creator is original are below. 1. A creator owns his original style apparently different from others. 2. And the creator can do version up the style by own energy. 3. The style must become a standard and it will be taken in people criterion of judgment.
"To reduce anything from yourself" is necessary work to be original. We get and have lots of content and information in the process of life. So we throw away wasteful things and simplify a brain, then we can act freely. I think the most important question to be original is “are you happy to do it like that ?”. If my originality maybe exists, it’s caused by my free and natural sense. I’ve written novels by my own voluntary natural and free will of I want to only write a novel.
5. Well, What Should I Write?
Young people who want to be a writer should read many novels first. And they should watch people, scenes and things. Then stock them as “materials” in their brain.
I had been felt I have no things to write, because I was a usual boy who didn't experience particular experiences, all the same, the fact becomes a weapon, means I can write freely anything by the magic of combination like the “E. T. system“ when I start to write a novel once.
6. Taking Side with Time: To Write Long a Novel
I think I'm a long novel writer basically. To a long novel as "a total story owns a possibility may reform myself“, I need a vast “space” I can use freely and unlimitedly. When I write a long novel I make rules and a routine, such as I do the work of long novel only and I write 4000 characters every day without fail like a factory.
After I finish writing the first draft anyway, I rest for a week, and I rewrite and boldly edit it for a month to two months. And I redo the same process. After the rest of a week, I rewrite the second draft, it is an accumulation of detailed edits, additions and adjustments of the consistency of the story, descriptions of sceneries and tones of talkings. Then I put the manuscript in my drawer for half a year to one year, and I rewrite and finish it.
To rewrite a novel or the attitude is important for novelists, I think. I like very much to rewrite a manuscript many times. I can say I prefer to rewrite rather than write the first draft.
7. An Extremely Personal and Physical Activity
To write a long novel is extremely lonely and personal work. I shut myself up in my studio and write for five or six hours every day, this daily routine goes on one to three years. To keep it up, I need physical strength and a sturdy body, then they gain agility of thinking and flexibility of spirit. Spirit or brain is a part of the physical body equally.
To write a novel or to tell a grand story is to go down the bottom of one's darkness of mind by oneself, bring back and face with it. The act is dangerous, I need a certain physical strength. People want a novelist to the “antisocial characteristic”, but I think a novelist shouldn’t express his chaos in his private life. I spend a usual and healthy life for I write a novel.
8. About School
I didn't like schools and their education. The study of schools was a bore, and I thought to read many novels, to intently listen to music and to go with a girl are important person studies.
Since I was a high school student, I've red many English paperbacks, so I can read English books through anyway. But my results of English tests are not well, also students who got high marks in English should have no ability to read an English book through. So I understand the English education in Japanese high schools don’t do for students to learn living actual English, it does for to gain the score of university entrance exams exclusively.
The aim of the Japanese education system is to make obedient people. It influences the whole Japanese social system such as companies and government officials. Its rigidness of numerical system, and efficiency and utilitarianism like mechanical memorizing, cause serious losses in various fields.
I think imagination is very important in any period. The thing that is on the opposite side of imagination is efficiency. I only wish for schools to “don’t suppress the imagination of a child already own his imagination”.
9. What Characters That I Should Present?
I hardly use a real person as a model of a character. Characters are automatically created during I write a novel. To describe characters, you must watch the appearances and sayings of people and keep them in mind.
I think I can become anyone by writing a novel, also a novelist is partly created and modified by his novel.
10 Who is I Write for?
(…)
11 Going Abroad: The New Frontier
(…)
12 The Place a Story Is in: Memories of Dr. Hayao Kawai
(…)
Afterword
5 or 6 years ago I thought of that I have to write down a text about writing a novel. The manuscripts of this book are written on the assumption for a lecture meeting. (But I didn’t speak the content of this book.) This book would be regarded as an “autobiographical essay”, yet I only wish to write down as concretely and actually as possible how I worked and spent as a novelist. This book may be an egocentric text, though I appreciate it if it’s useful to readers.
Product Details
Novelist as a Profession (Hardcover) Haruki Murakami Switch Publishing, Tokyo, 10 September 2015 313 pages, JPY 1944 ISBN 9784884184438 Contents:
Novelist as a Profession (Mass Market Paperback) Haruki Murakami Shinchosha, Tokyo, 28 September 2016 352 pages, JPY 737 ISBN 9784101001692
Are Novelists Tolerant Persons?
When I Became a Novelist
On Literature Awards
On Originality
Well, What Should I Write?
Taking Side with Time: To Write Long Novels
Extremely Individual and Physical Activity
On Schools
What Characters That I Should Present?
Who is I Write for?
Going Abroad: The New Frontier
The Place a Story Is in: Memories of Dr. Hayao Kawai
Novelist as a Profession by Haruki Murakami is an auto-biographical essay (on the afterword, mentioned by Murakami). This essay treats themes of novelist, novel, literature, writing, art, school education and life. On this essay Murakami told how he lived, spent his life, wrote novels, think about literature and novel. Anyway, as a result, for readers, this essay Murakami told readers how to write novel and induced them to write a novel. But it is not a usual “how to” book or a guide book at all.
On this essay, Murakami wrote honestly his experience, way of life, thought and policy. He didn’t want to be a novelist seriously. At first, he had no enthusiasm to write novel. He ran a jazz cafe or bar, and earned a sufficient amount of money. Some epiphanies, chances and lucks made him a novelist. Also he continued to write novels of his own will.
Murakami is an ordinary and modest person, also is uncategorized and unconventional individual. He was a usual student, spent a daily life as an ordinary and normal citizen. Also he isn’t a stereotyped great writer or artist.
Murakami’s policy is such as a policy of non-policy or non-rule. He live and write by spontaneousness, freedom and nature. He doesn’t depend on any authorities, academism and large systems. He live his life the way he like. He doesn’t interest in any prizes and the Japanese literature scene. So he migrated to foreign countries, and made a distance to the Japanese literature scene.
His policy links to his way of writing and the content of his works. He writes his novels the way he like. He writes a novel by rhythm and free improvisation like jazz. He doesn’t set a heavy and proper theme, a strict plan and fixed personalities of characters. His policy and way of writing made the “voice” echoes with the hearts of readers.
Murakami wrote his novels for himself, “writing for enjoy myself as my basic stance” (p. 269). So the title of a novel by an imaginary writer Derek Heartfield in Murakami’s debut novel Hear the Wind Sing is “What’s Wrong About Feeling Good ?” (p. 270), it expressed the sense of incongruity to the Japanese literature scene.
Murakami has been enjoyed writing and wrote by his spontaneousness from his debut until now. And he has no desire to become a novelist or to succeed in a novel, and there’s any limitations. He alway wrote a novel by a plentiful and spontaneous pleasure. So he can own “a natural feeling that I’m free” and “free and natural feeling” (p. 111), and he thinks his originality caused by freedom.
On the other hand, Murakami has will and durability to write story, and his original way of work. He had been built his own style of writing and his original grand narrative by trial and error. When he write a long novel 5 hours in early morning everyday. And he trains the body and keeps his physical strength without fail. He founded healthy life for writing. He thinks to complete a long novel it’s necessary of concentration and durability.
Murakami is only a novelist and a creator. He isn’t good at analyse and criticize things like a scholar, also he want not his works analysed and criticized by scholars and critics. He won’t be a councillor or a literature prize, also he isn’t interested in any prizes. Over almost 40 years, he only wrote novels and texts. He only want to enjoy writing a novel. Murakami thinks he is only an ordinary person has a certain measure of capacity to write a novel, but by some chances and accidents made him a novelist, and by his will and durability he continued to write novels. I think Murakami told that “everyone can write a novel and become a novelist”. As a matter of fact, by this book, you should want to write a novel or create something.
A spring clear afternoon, Murakami visited the 1978 opening game of the Central League at an outfield stand of the Jingu Stadium, Tokyo. When the first batter of Yakult Swallows, Dave Hilton hit a fine double, an epiphany fell into Murakami, then he realized “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !” at the moment. (pp. 46 – 47) This essay makes you want to write a novel or want to do a creation. Like Murakami realized “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !”, to read this essay, you may realize “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !”.
Product Details
Novelist as a Profession
Haruki Murakami
Switch Publishing, Tokyo, 10 September 2015
313 pages, JPY 1944
ISBN 9784884184438
Content
‘Novelist as a Vocation’ by Haruki Murakami is ‘essais’ about his views to literature, art and writing novel.
1: Are Novelists Tolerant Persons?
novel; novelist; literature
Murakami thinks almost all of novelists are idiosyncratic persons and hard to deal with. But they have tolerances to novel or to write novel. To write novel isn’t a difficult thing, and is a form of expression everyone easy to participate. But it’s difficult to continue to write novel in a long term. There’s a kind of a qualification.
To write novel is not suitable for smart people. Novelists change things by their consciousness to story. Novelist make use of a dynamism of difference between an original thing and a result. Smart people can’t keep on write novel. To write novel isn’t a efficient activity.
‘bovine’ work; ship in a bottle; pace
internal drive; tough endurance
Each professional novelists has a qualification or a strong core as an internal derive can’t stop writing and an tough endurance.
2. When I Became a Novelist
age 30; experiences; general; common knowledge; Jazz; coffee; liquor; the Student Movement; niche; Shigeharu Mukai; Aki Takase; difficulty; Waseda University; disturbance of university; power of moral; Shinjuku; Kabukicho
Before Murakami became a novelist, he spent an unusual life. He married when he was a university student and run a Jazz café in suburban Tokyo. His youth are a tough and hard years, but he was happy and gained wide experience.
Jazz café is the Japanese unique style of café, coffee shops play Jazz records all day long.
Jean Racine; Sendagaya; unsociable nature
a sunny day of 1978; the Jingu Stadium; Yakult Swallows; beer; green lawn and white ball; Dave Hilton; Charlie Manuel; double (two-base hit);
A sunny day of 1978, Murakami watched a baseball game of Yakult Swallows at the Jingo (Shrine) Stadium, Tokyo. When Dave Hilton hitter a double, Murakami hit on a notion ’Well, I may also write a novel’. After the works of Jazz café, he wrote his debut novel Hear the Wind Sing on a kitchen table everyday till late at night.
Russian novels in the 19th century; English paperbacks; Japanese contemporary novels; epiphany; Olivetti typewriter; écriture (style of text); ‘translational style’; neutral; flexible
Murakami finished the draft of his first novel, he was’t satisfied with it. So he rewrote the novel in English by an Olivetti typewriter. By rewriting in English, he got the his own rhythm of text. Then he translated that English text to Japanse. He think his style of text isn’t a ‘translational’ style, but is a neutral and flexible style of écriture.
way of expression; important moving; to play music; set of tools
Finding of an own method of writing and to finish the first novel are a ‘important moving’ for him and the feeling is ‘to play music’ rather than ‘to write a novel’.
‘good feeling’; ‘delight’; happiness
The ‘good feeling’ and ‘delight’ he gained when he wrote the first novel, are still unchanged, and he feels the happiness of writing novel every morning when he starts work.
3. About Literature Awards
literature awards; Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Literature) Prize (the Akutagawa Prize)
literary circle; ordinary life
Murakami was’t thinking of keeping away from the Japanese literary circle, he spent only a ordinary civil life and it made his unique position spontaneously.
He wasn’t content with the first and second novels, but he was glad about to get the ticket (qualification) to write novels.
–
a storm in a teacup; business; Academy Awards; Novel Prize; Raymond Chandler; Nelson Algren; Kurt Vonnegut; Autobiography of Studs Terkel;
Murakami treasured readers buy his book out of their own pocket, rather than literature prizes, medals and favourable reviews. To miss winning the Akutagawa Prize is good for Murakami because of not to put his name and reputation on ’an Akutagawa winning writer’.
5%; Ray Bradberry; Fahrenheit 451; YouTube; 3D Video Game
Murakami thinks 5% of people read books actively. So to read books will not die out.
member of a section committee; individualism
Murakami haven’t served a member of section committee of any literature awards. It may be abandonment of responsibility to young novelists, but he thinks his primal duty as a novelist is to continue publishing high-quality works.
qualification (ability) of a individual; it can’t be argued in the same way
4. On Originality
originality; Oliver Sacks; Anthropologist on Mars; original creativity; Beatles; Please, Please Me; the Beach Boys; Surfing USA; works has fixed value; Gustav Mahler; Thelonias Monk; classic (master piece)
To explain originality is difficult. For example, people can’t continue to hear the songs of the Beatle and the Beach Boys as novel and fresh music. It’s case by case that originalities will fede or not. The originality of the music of Gustav Mahler would be discovered by the posterities.
van Gogh; Picasso; ‘reference’; Sohseki Netsuke; Ernest Hemingway; écriture; Psyche
Novel originalities might become a ‘reference’ of fine art or literature as ‘classic’, like van Gogh, Picasso, Sohseki Natsme or Ernest Hemingway. To evaluate current contemporary works is more difficult than to evaluate ‘classics’ had became original.
artist; style; unique style; standardize; flash in the pan; Beethoven; Symphony No. 9; worth as a work
By Murakami’s opinion, requirements of original artist are below.
An unique style.
He can version up his unique style by his own ability.
The unique style will became a standard among people’s psyche.
chronological substance; ‘marriage swindling’; illusionist; decency; Zbigniew Herbert; avant-garde or not; right-wing or left-wing; fine literature or popular literature; coordinate axis; ’custom’; ‘unwritten rule’; the counter generation
Murakami want to be a ‘unique (original) novelist’. But originalities should be judged by a collaborate work of readers with ‘certain time’.
information glutted society; expression; needs (necessities); freedom; model; natural feeling;
Murakami thinks to make an originality, it needs to reduce anything(s) by myself. To find your necessities, you should find your own spontaneous joy and pleasure. To novelists, it may be more difficult to write simple, necessary and dry words and texts rather than to write complicated, tricky and serious words. Murakami thinks his originality and root of writing novels are a free and natural feeling.
‘self who hopes for no one’; ‘despite’; writer’s block;
Murakami has no slump, because he write only when he want to write spontaneously by the natural feeling.
5. Well, What Should I Write?
training; custom(s); to read books a lot; to watch things and phenomenons; clear conclusion; ‘at present, I can’t conclude neither of them’; things ’as they are’; Paul Valéry; Albert Einstein
Young people who want to be a novelst has to read books a lot and watch things and phenomenons in detail. People who concludes smartly and immediately are not apt to a novelist. The attitude necessary for novelists is like one of ‘at present, I can’t conclude neither of them’ and to accept things ‘as they are’.
collection of things in details; unordered details; ’incoherent memories’; James Joyce; imagination; combination(s) of partial memories; Steven Soderbergh; KAFKA
When Murakami write novel he cites collection of things in details or incoherent memories. A combination(s) of partial memories makes a story.
essay (essai); materials; stock of junks; ‘magic’
When Murakami writes a novel he does’t writes essai or anything except for the novel, to concentrate using materials of memory for the novel.
experience(s); happiness; unhappiness; ordinary family
’nothing to write’; new words and style; not to explain; music; jazz; rhythm; harmony; free improvisation; ad-lib
When he first novel, he had no idea to write, so he felt ‘I only to write I have no things to write’ or make use of a feeling as ’I have no things to write’. But the feeling as ’I have no things to write’ changed ‘I can write anything freely’, then he wrote the novel like playing music while modelling the rhythm and free improvisation of jazz.
It’s easy for novelists to weave a story from inner self rather than to rely on the seriousness of material (facts). You may as well make use of materials as scenes and people of your daily life, and put your imagination to build your own story.
reality of novel; age; era; own reality; to deposit
6. Taking Side with Time: To Write Long Novels
long novels; novelette; short novel; characteristic; quality
Murakami thinks long novel and to write it are his life line or his main battle field, and short novel and novelette are place(s) of training.
’business as usual’; life and work cycle; chores (small jobs); noise
When Murakami writes a long novel, he fixes (keeps) a cycle of life and work like a ‘business as usual’ for keeping vast energy to do a very long term work.
regularity; artist; factory; a liberal; Isaac Dienessen
When Murakami do a long term work as writing a long novel, he must writes 10 pieces of manuscript just calmly everyday. Because the regularity of work is important for him.
first draft; rewrite; ’aging’ (leaving)
Murakami wrote a first draft then rewrote it freely without the care of the conclusion and the whole consistency. After a second or third rewriting, he leave the manuscript for one week or one month for ‘aging’.
my wife; editor(s) of a publisher
Then he consults and argue with his wife, and he rewrites parts in question. There’re no complete texts in novel. So act of rewriting itself is important.
Murakami rewrites many many times, and the works take a lot of patience. But he can’t help feeling happy during the rewritings. Time is one most important essential elements of writing novel, especially term of ‘preparation’ to cultivate a bud of novel. So novelists should set their schedule actively (aggresively).
7. Extremely Individual and Physical Activity
individual activity; intangible subjective things; tangible objective things
To write novel is extremely individual activity in an own writing room. It is the work to change intangible subjective things to tangible objective things. All of writing novel are works in your individual writing room, if you write a novel out of your room or outdoor.
individual motivation of ‘I want to write novels’; solitary work; ‘One day at a time.’
to obtain physical strength;
From Murakami’s individual view, to obtain physical strength is the most important element to write novel. To decrease physical strength makes decrease strength of thinking and mind.
hippocampus; neuron; combination in daily life, between physical exercise and intellectual work;
A combination in daily life between physical exercise and intellectual work ideally affects the kind of creative works of which novelists do. Murakami started running when he had became a professional writer, still now do it about a hour almost everyday.
to tell story; bottom of his consciousness; darkness of mind; collective unconsciousness; individual unconsciousness; ruin and chaos; anti-social literary man; ‘activist writer’
The basic of novelist is to tell (weave, make) story. And to make story is, in other words, to descend the bottom of my consciousnes or darkness of my mind. In the darkness, it’s mixed of a collective unconsciousness and an individual unconsciousness, the primitive age and the contemporary era.
Anthony Trollope; model; usual (ordinary) life; Franz Kafka; principal occupation; side job; concentration by taciturnity; sustainability without being discouraged
Murakami thinks necessary things of novelists are a concentration by taciturnity (reticence) not to show off like ‘Well, my inner chaos is so big like this !’, and a sustainability without being discouraged.
happiness; miracle; genius (gift); ability; technique; capacity; view of the world
types of novelist; Mozart; Schubert; Pushkin; Rimbeau; van Gogh; genius artists; quality of a way of life itself; total balance
8. About School
schools; school education; whole of education
study; to read books; to listen to music; to watch movies
Murakami had been thinking the study of school is boring. But he thought he wasn’t loafing, so that to read books, to listen to music passionately, to play baseball and to go out with girls are his important private study.
When Murakami was a high-school student, he started reading English novels by himself. But he could’t obtain good scores in English tests on the school, also honor students in Japan should not read a English novel or speak English with native speakers. Because Japanese English education concentrate(d) on to gain good score on collage entrance examinations, and teach(ed) the technique for it.
interest; sports; ‘doggy characteristic’; ‘catty characteristic’; ‘characteristic like sheep’; Japanese social system; stickiness of ‘priority to numerical value’; bubble economics; wisdom of men; common sense; sophistication of system; consensus; depth; profundity; reflection
The Japanese social system emphasize on utilitarianistic efficiency and materialistic profit. But Murakami thinks Japanese people should make important on flexible and total thinkings like wisdom and common sense.
resurgence; development; intention; individual; association; ‘recovery place of individual’
making some mutual friends; to read many books; compound view; objective
To read many in school days made Murakami’s objective compound view and his individual place.
system of school; boring; dreaming (fantasy); efficiency; safety dogma (safety dogma); dangerous brief values; a free thinking and its axe of idea
Murakami thought schools were boring. He prefer to imaginate stories than going to schools. The most different thing to imagination is ‘efficiency’. The conclusion of the Japanese efficient social system may be the Fukushima nuclear disaster. His wish to the Japanese school education is only ‘Don’t oppress children’s imagination’.
9. How Characters That I Should Present?
characters; real person; Somerset Maugham; ’automatic pygmy’s effect’; ‘making characters’
Murakami make characters during building story automatically and naturally. Writing story makes happen details and features of characters.
persons; appearance; saying; negative characters
To write novels, you must know a lot of persons include which you don’t like. To write profound stories, you need to know and write various persons include negative, malicious and curious ones.
Raymond Chandler; Philip Marlowe; first person; third person; imaginary ‘I’
One of Murakami’s pleasure of writing novels is the thing ‘If I wish, I became anyone’. In the former half of Murakami’s career, he aimed at to weave stories by the axe of imaginary ‘I’. In the later one, he began to experiment of using the voice of third person.
naming of characters; nickname
Scott Fitzgerald; * The Great Gatsby*; J. D. Salinger; The Catcher in the Rye
To adopt third personal pronoun, Murakami felt ‘I can became almost anyone’, and he can rely a separated self on a other as a method of story telling.
unpredictable elements; fiction
Novelists create novels, at the same time certain part of self of novelists are created by novels.
character of same age as the novelist; relativization
To describe novel and characters is like a testing ‘a different self’ by unfittable shoes. So Murakami hasn’t write a main character of the same age to him.
10. Who is I Write for?
(…)
11. Going Abroad: The New Frontier
(…)
12. Place a Story Is in
(…)
Product Details
Novelist as a Profession
Haruki Murakami
Switch Publishing, Tokyo, 10 September 2015
313 pages, JPY 1944
ISBN 9784884184438
Content