ON THE HARM OF WRITING A NOVEL

　　　Probably you are wondering why writing a novel is harmful. You may argue, “It is far from harmful, but beneficial.” I know writing is good for clear thinking. When you are thinking, you cannot see your thought, but once you write it down, you can recognize it with your eyes. Moreover, the written idea allows objective scrutiny, because you are a reader of what you have written. This is why professional writers recommend you to put away your writing for a couple of days and return to it later. This is the proof that once you have turned your thought into the written form, your thought exists before your eyes as something tangible. So you may insist that writing does you good. You are right. I know Francis Bacon’s words: "writing makes an exact man." My argument is, however, not about “writing” but about “writing a novel.” My point is that “writing a NOVEL” is harmful.
　　Now let me tell you about the harm. After you have read this essay, I hope you will quit writing novels. This is a caution. Otherwise, the rest of your life will be cursed. You cannot recover from the curse, nor lead a normal happy life, nor escape from the addiction.

Harm No. 1: you can’t enjoy reading a novel.

　　Your inclination to write a novel disturbs your mind whenever you read a novel. You are so much occupied by how to write a novel well that you are destined to pay attention to how the novel you are reading is written: the choice of words, plot, character and scene description, and climax and ending. You are too much interested in these matters to enjoy reading it.
　 Let me give you an example. Suppose three men are walking in the forest. One is a biologist; another, a painter; and the other, a musician. After they pass through the forest, ask each of them the same question: what did you see in the forest?
　　The biologist will answer, “I saw birds, small animals, and insects. I was lucky to see an Indian Ringneck Parrot, a rare species. Oh, I caught some unknown worms under the bark of a red pine tree. I am going to study them in my laboratory.” The painter will answer, “The forest consisted of marvelous pictures. I saw here and there pictures of Cezanne, Monet, and Corot. I saw beautiful women dancing around a tree like the women in a Corot’s picture. The colors of the sky, clouds, and leaves were making such a fine contrast with each other that I wished I could stop walking and paint them.” How will the musician respond? Probably she will say, “What did I see? I should say, I ‘heard’ rather than I saw. Actually I did not see anything special but I heard a wonderful symphony of the forest orchestra. How wonderful to hear the sound of brooks, birds, and leaves in the breeze. They are sometimes soft and gentle as in Heaven but sometimes so harsh and violent as in Hell. The sound inspired me to compose music.”
　　Every one of them enjoys walking through the forest, but what they see is quite different. I feel sorry for each of them because their appreciation of the forest is biased and self-centered. They only see what they want to see. Then, how do ordinary people walk in the forest? Do they see the forest in the same way as the three people? No. They simply enjoy the forest biologically, picturesquely, and musically at the same time, although some of them may pay special attention to things they are very much interested in.
　　This prejudiced attitude can be applied to reading a novel. A novel writer cannot read a novel without thinking of how it is written. They may say, “Ah, this combination of words is astonishing. I will use it in my next work. Oh, this must be a foreshadowing. An ordinary reader will miss it, but I won’t. The protagonist’s psychology is poorly described. I could do it much better.” Thus, you are always thinking about how the novel is written. So you don’t have time to enjoy the story.

Harm No. 2: you can’t enjoy a cup of coffee.

　 A novel writer is always paying attention to the conversation her neighbors are engaged in. She is all the time listening secretly to the conversation she hears so that she can reproduce some of them in her work. Since her conversation in her novel is based on what she has overheard, it sounds natural. Suppose you drop in at a coffee shop. You automatically try to listen to the neighboring conversation. You are forced to do so before you notice it. So how can you sip coffee and relax despite your busy engagement in eavesdropping?

Harm 3: you can’t enjoy TV dramas.

　　You are always thinking of some original ideas that will help you write a new novel. Whenever you are watching a TV drama or seeing a movie, your brain is so programmed as to get some hints for your next novel. If you are a detective story writer, your eyes will automatically fix on criminal scenes in the drama you are watching. How the murder took place? Who did it, where and why, and how was it solved? If you are a romance writer, you pay attention to how the relationship in the film you are seeing develops rather than enjoy it. Your brain is always bound by the chain of writing a novel even when you are in a movie theater.
　So stop writing a novel. Otherwise, you cannot enjoy the wonderful world in a relaxed way. To write a novel is to live your life with an unnecessary load. So quit writing a novel before you are addicted.