Not too long ago my co-worker were discussing the idea of using his cell phone as his notepad. He said if his cell phone had the space for memory he could write all his notes, and his stories on his cell phone. I cringed at the idea of being confined to a little keyboard as small as my cell phone, not to mention forcing my fingers to bring up every little letter in the alphabet. That would be my version of hell – if there is one – typing on an itty-bitty designed after the typical cell phone.

But, Japan has embraced the whole digital cell phone literature revolution. Many young budding writers in Japan have found success in publishing their works written on their cell phones”, many of them did it during free times in the day – like commuting to work.

Not only do I envy some of the people to actually get their work printed and bound together but they actually have room on their cell phones to write these long pieces of work. Even though these works aren’t like typical stories – but are focused more on first person entries – similar to diaries I imagine these can get pretty long. One writer ended up having a 142-page novel.

I imagine the literary snobs aren’t going to embrace this to new edition to the literary world. But since so many other everyday acts take place these days through ones cell phone – I don’t see why this cell phone novels shouldn’t be taken more seriously. I always see people on the bus in the morning typing into their BlackBerrys. One of them must be outlining the next great American novel.

I probably won’t be able to take part in this new revolution until my phone gets upgraded with a larger keyboard and memory. So – until then I guess I’ll stick to my laptop keyboard and suffer like the rest of us un-evolved writers of the 21st century.
—Eming Piansay