one more day (and a few hours) until nano08

I've been spending so much time this past week clearing my schedule and getting ready for a month of nano that I almost completely forgot about it. We've been taking tests every day at school, so I haven't been taking notes as much, either, which means I never know what the date is. So when I saw that yesterday was the 29th, I was a little surprised that nano would be starting in just a few days... Now that it's starting tomorrow night, I'm getting worried that I don't remember the characters and scenes that I started plotting just a couple weeks ago.

I was trying to remember my past novels just now and had a hard time remembering what I wrote about for the second one ^^; I think it's because I was trying to write it while working, and I had no time or inclination to think of a plot beforehand. Since every year I've been in Japan I've decided not to do nano before actually deciding to do it, it's been a pretty spur-of-the moment decision every year. I guess I should just stop telling myself that I'm not going to do it, since apparently it's become something of an addiction... It's strange to be able to say that it's my fourth year doing nano, as I never expected to keep it up this long, and even more strange to me that I've done more nanos in Japan than I have in L.A. (I only did my first year in L.A., but I still affiliate with the region).

On a completely unrelated note, I'm glad that I was able to go back to Taiwan for the elections this past spring, because it's really been helping me talk about the elections now in Japanese. Since a lot of the vocabulary is the same, I just have to kind of figure out the Japanese version of the Chinese or Taiwanese words that I heard a lot of while I was in Taiwan. It's not very smooth, since I end up using a lot of vocabulary I'm not familiar with in Japanese, but I can usually at least get my point across.

I'd love to go back again next spring since I've decided that it's my favorite time to be in Taiwan ^^ And I would eventually like to match up all the kanji I've been learning for Japanese to Chinese since I'm learning them anyway. Also, I think I'm starting to pick up a little bit of a Beijing accent from my seat mate in class... just a little. I never really picked it up from my professor in college, but most of my class was Taiwanese...

Off to finally watch Ironman in the theater, and paying more than 12 bucks for it at the current exchange rate >>; Ended up watching a Japanese movie instead... Ironman next time? I may as well just buy it off iTunes at this rate ^^;

the american movie..

I just got back from watching Wanted with one of my Japanese friends, after watching Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and Paco and the Magic Book within the last two weeks. Japan's not really a good place to get back into watching lots of movies, what with a "cheap" late show ticket being 1200 yen, and the regular price being 1800 yen. But my friend (who happens to live practically next door, so we can go to late and early shows without either of us getting home too late or having to wake up too early since we live really close to the biggest movie theater 'in' the city) wanted to practice her English, and I wanted to watch more Japanese movies, so we decided that we'd alternate between Japanese and English movies, which basically means I've watched a movie a week since I've been back (although Ponyo was with a different friend).

But having the jolt of watching a Hollywood blockbuster after not really watching any American movie other than Dark Knight recently... I definitely had to get used to them again. Japanese movies tend to be a lot more minimalistic, more concerned with the scenery and the character struggle than explosions and crazy camera angles. Even Paco, which was packed with a lot of sensory information for a Japanese film, still felt like the complete opposite of Wanted. Even the use of "nothing" is different. The silent moments during an American films tend to only appear so that the next sound will seem louder, while the silences in Japanese films are there so you can think about what's going on in the story. It didn't help that the other two were "family" movies, either, although I probably wouldn't recommend Paco to young children...

I guess since I'm setting up to write for Nanowrimo, I'm paying a lot more attention to how to tell a story--the devices used, the cast of characters... once I start planning it, I'm always excited to start writing my novel, but this year, I hope I can keep the excitement through the middle of the month when I'm wondering how I got myself into this... Or at least have enough plot points and things to write about planned so that that feeling doesn't last very long...

nanowrimo 08?

Every year for the past three years, around the end of summer, I've smelled this plant along the streets of Okayama as I ride my bike, and it always reminds me of starfruit. I finally found out what that smell was today, when my teacher brought a branch into class--it's called kinmokusei, or sweet olive, and apparently, it smells like apricots to everyone else...

The other thing that happens every October is the sign up for Nanowrimo, which I've done every year since graduating college. Since I moved to Japan, though, I keep having a hard time deciding whether or not I want to do it. The first year I did it, I was just taking night classes twice a week, so I had more time to just write. My first year in Japan, I was working full-time, and I didn't have much free-time during the week, so didn't think I would have enough time to write, because knowing me, I wouldn't want to start unless I thought I could finish. I ended up having the beginnings of an idea for a novel, so I did it anyway and somehow forced myself to write even though I didn't think the story was all that interesting.

Last year, I had just started Japanese school, and I was studying for Level 2 of the JLPT. I didn't think I would pass, so I wanted to devote as much time as I could to studying. Right before November started, I ended up having a really vivid dream that led to the beginnings of a decent story that I couldn't make end properly...

Somehow I passed Level 2 last year, so this year I'm going for Level 1. With even more studying ahead of me, I'd decided that I wouldn't do nano this year to increase my chances of passing. But the more I think about not doing nano, the more I want to do it, so I've registered for Nanowrimo yet again. I'm tempted to try this year in Japanese, but that would take even more time to finish, so I'll just have to stick with my native language.

It's been interesting to see the influence of whatever I'm reading or watching at the time and how it effects my writing. The first year I did it, I'd been reading one genre of novel for a long time, so that's what I wrote. I think I had a hard time my first year in Japan, because I'd just made the transition from western novels and storytelling to the Japanese style, so I didn't have a good grasp of either at the time, which made my writing messy and hard to read. Last year was better because I was able to combine the two a little better, and I had something visual to draw from. This year, I've been reading a lot more in Japanese, so we'll see how that ends up affecting my writing.

I don't write at all during the year, so it's interesting to see how I've changed over the past year every November. I think that's what makes me want to write this year. I'm curious to see how another year of difference influences has changed my writing, and how another year of living in a foreign country has deteriorated my English ^^;