by Erin Blakeslee, Editorial Assistant

Or a texting approach to the novel?  CBS Sunday Morning recently did a segment on the Cell Phone Novel, a new genre emerging in Japan and poised to gain in popularity worldwide.  Mobile-phone-wielding authors type their work using text-messaging programs, then upload their fiction to a number of different websites that allow any interested reader to download it, often in serialized form.  (After all, the average cell phone screen is half the size of a credit card!)

Though Cell Phone Novels are generally free-of-charge to download, Japanese consumers have proven willing to open their wallets for printed copies in the bookstores, buying hundreds of thousands of Cell Phone Novel books last year alone.  Some thumb-callused novelists have even seen their work adapted for the large and small screens.

It is exciting to see people discover creative-writing uses for new media: Now that busy Tokyo commute can be spent writing or reading a potential new literary masterpiece.  However, with the hefty standard text-messaging fees my cellular plan sticks me with, I think I'll stick with old-fashioned paper for the time being.