Welcome!

[Wave Tossed]

Kitsuno put up this forum at my request. So as the Empress... er, Queen... er Daimyo... er, Moderator of this particular forum, these are my general suggestions for posting here.

I want at least one thread to be dedicated to writing samurai fiction. This is because I write samurai fiction and I love to read the other samurai fiction that people have written. So I will set this section up here.

We will figure a way to post samurai fiction in this forum for others' criticisms. I don't know if there is a length maximum for each post. But I believe that short stories could be posted here. If you are writing a novel, I would suggest posting only selected chapters.

As for general rules of criticism, please be gentle. Don't just write that "Story X written by Writer A is pure crap." Even if there are too many flying ninjas, or swordsmen who can kill 100 or so with a single blow. Instead, put in suggestions for improvement.

At the same time: for perspective writers, I would post here and also read this article (and others) about samurai misconceptions, as there are plenty of them.

http://www.geocities.com/klancesegall/home.htm

As for discussions of literature: What I would like to have discussed here are fiction/non-fiction works that are available in English translation. Examples would include novels, short stories, books about Zen and samurai, martial arts and samurai, books such as Miyamoto Musashi's BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. Or the books don't even have to have samurai or be about samurai, as this really is the "Japanese Literature" Forum. Reviews of works are welcome, as are more detailed discussions about the works involved.

By the way, there is a separate section on film. Please only discuss films as they pertain to literature.

So post away!
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"Walk the thousand mile road, step by step" -- Miyamoto Musashi