《Hase Short Day》Picture Collection & Creation Notes

One day in February, when I was still in Kamakura, I decided to go to Canggu, but because of fatigue and trivial matters, I didn’t go out until two o’clock. If I want to go another day, Mr. said, it's still early and it's too late.

My friends and I spent an afternoon in Canggu. In the evening, I was writing my journal and found that I went to so many shops this afternoon, ate so many delicacies, and watched so many scenery... I suddenly felt that the time scale was so unreal. The mixed mood of sadness and joy enveloped me, so I took out my miscellaneous notebook and conceived a story, which is " Changgu Short Days (short stories) ".

It took one night to conceive the story, and another whole day to design the characters. I thought it would be finished soon, but the rest of the creative process was so tortured that I almost gave up.

The first is the trouble of the creative environment:

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my kids lately, and I’m rarely alone; coupled with the emergency in Tokyo, I’ve been out writing a few nights, and the cafes near my house are closed. I can only write while the baby is asleep, and I can write up to 5,000 words a day. After procrastinating for half a month, I realized that if I don’t finish it, I won’t finish it. My husband and I discussed letting him take care of the baby for two days. I spent one afternoon in the cafe writing the second half, and then spent two more days revising it. The full text was completed on March 5, with a total of 9485 words.

The second is the difficulty of the skills:

I think the most difficult thing to write is the ending of the novel. It took a lot of energy to describe Qiu Ying's psychological state and the changes in the relationship between Qiu Ying and Song. The last four hundred words may take more time than the first four thousand.

In order to shake the reader's perception of the "speed and slowness of time", I carefully controlled the rhythm of this novel, so that the rhythm of the narrative was inconsistent with the rhythm of the natural passage of time. My current ability is only 60 points, which is very reluctant. This is an important goal in my initial conception, and it is a pity that it failed to meet my expectations.

In terms of character design, Qiu Ying's image has many contradictions, which are difficult to deal with. In particular, she is both light and heavy, and her depiction is quite complicated, and it becomes inexplicable if not handled delicately. Matsu is relatively simple and has a relatively stable image, but therefore his inner struggle is difficult to express in the first-person narrative.

"Changgu Short Days", the Japanese pronunciation of Hase is "hase", which is the place name of Kamakura and the station name of Enoden. In addition to meaning "short day", "short day" is also a taxonomic term for a plant in Japanese natural sciences. When the daylight hours are gradually shortened, some plants will bloom, which are called "short-day plants". "Autumn cherry" is a short-day plant. The valleys of Canggu extend from north to south, with shorter days and more severe winters. Both "Long Gu" and "Short Days" here use natural imagery to symbolize mental state, not just the place and time of the story. "Time" is one of the core designs of the novel "Changgu, Short Days". The interpretation of the novel belongs to the reader, and there is no need to worry about the author's original intention; but if there is an understanding of the author's preference, "time" is one of the key points that cannot be skipped.

Below is a collection of pictures related to the novel.

The above three photos: YOKOHAMA BAY QUARTER Linhai Commercial Center.

View from the top of Sance Road in Hase-ji Temple

KANNON COFFEE Hase Store

Idobata (Idobata) Yatai Coffee. Mr. Idohata is the owner.

This photo is not from Canggu, I just want everyone to see the hydrangea just withered.

Hydrangea in Shonan during the rainy season

Above two: Light and shadow from my residence in Kamakura.

The platform of Enoden Hase Station.

Write at the end:

I still want to say a few more bits and pieces, the process of writing this novel is too hard, maybe the most tiring one of my short stories so far. The feeling of collapse has not been eliminated today. After the passion of completely hollowing out and dedicating myself to the work burns out, I wonder, when will I be able to accumulate enough energy to create new works? It is no longer a question of whether it can be written well or not; it is a question of whether an author must face every exhaustion and continue to grow. This is the process of transformation. A little encouragement and likes will also help, but in fact, as an author, I also understand that creation is ultimately my own persistence. As @fide said , a problem that can be solved by other means doesn't need writing to solve it.

I really hope to have the opportunity to keep writing, at least for a year or a few years. The road is not bumpy or difficult, just lonely. When I go to the cafe with my schoolbag on my back, and write and write in the corner, no one knows, apart from the story, there are bits and pieces of my journey alone. Maybe others won't care. After all, this is the era of "the author is dead". The reader has no obligation to understand the author, and the author's halo has long disappeared. Now, if you want to become a novelist, you should consider it as your own practice.

golden pear

March 6, 2021 Tokyo