What I've Learned Writing 1,000 Words a Day

Three months in and I'm just now seeing what all the fuss is about

Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash.

Trying a new format with the newsletter:

• Quick re-cap of the big stories happening in Japan.

• Longer post. Most of these will be Japan/Asia-focused. Some (like this one) will be either what’s going on in my life or writing advice/my journey to become a full-time writer.

• I would love to hear your thoughts on this format! This newsletter is for you, dear reader. I want to craft it in a way that serves what you would like to read.

This week in Japan:

• A 62-year-old Yakuza member shot a man to death in a Starbucks in Ehime Prefecture (this will be the topic for next week’s post). For a nation with almost ZERO gun violence, this is an outlier.

• Japan became the 5th country to successfully land a craft on the moon.

• One of the most popular comedians in Japan, Hitoshi Matsumoto—who makes up one-half of the comedy duo Downtown—was accused of sexual assault and is taking a break from TV while the investigation plays out. Everyone loves this guy so it’s shaken a lot of people.

• After a scandal involving the personal use of funds raised for their political party, the Abe faction (shadowy behind-the-scenes group of influencers in government) decided to disband after being accused of the misuse of money. None of the top guys have been arrested though some of their underlings have. The PM’s ratings have dropped, more factions are disbanding, good ol’ corrupt Japanese politics as usual.

What I’ve learned writing 1,000 words a day for 3 months

Somewhere out in the ether of the internet, I came across this advice:

to be a successful writer, you must write every day.

Being that I want to become a full-time author, I took up this challenge.