The Hard Life in Metro Manila
I'm currently reading Shion Miura's novels about the village of Kamusari and I really like the simple style of writing that is being used. In these two books, the way the story is told is as if we are reading a document that the protagonist, Yuki Hirano, has typed out on a computer during his stay in the aforementioned village.
Props to the translator as well, because the way it is written is easy to read but also humorous and hard to put down. It's one of those Japanese cozy reads where the text is full of personality and you can tell what kind of person the protagonist is by the way he tells the story.
I'm writing about it now because it's exactly the kind of writing I want to emulate in my blogs. I want my blog posts to be like a casual chat with a friend, but reading some of my recent blog posts, even the ones with lots of text seem a little robotic.
I think it's because I'm conflicted with how I want my blog to appear. Having to curate my voice and words sometimes take a lot of time and effort and this puts me off from editing the blog post (especially since I really do not like Wordpress' post editor). At the end of the day, what I want is to churn out a post, so I tend to just make posts as brief as possible (that and I have terrible adjective range when describing things).
But as I'm reading through these books, I'm inspired with how the words just flow and wish that I can emulate them in my future works. It's a testament to her skill with how easy she makes story-telling seem, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her works to see if they are just as entertaining and palatable as the ones I've finished.
For now, I'll enjoy and observe the story and try to see what I can use in my future writing. I hope to be as casual and entertaining in my future postings.
-jgzn
P.S.
I never got to post about it, but Rest in Peace to the GOAT, Keigo Higashino. The biggest of loss of 2026 for me, as I've just started reading a lot of his books. He is my author of the year and I will never forget the stories he has blessed us with. The world has truly lost a literary giant.