Ok, so we're down with the electronic book thing. Combining Dickens with digital is the modern way to delve into the classics without harming your techie credentials. But writing a novel on your mobile that boasts no more than around 150 words? Crazy talk, surely.
Not so in Japan. There a growing band of writers are working in the style of 'keitai shousetsu' or mobile phone novel.
Each story is downloaded as a series of text messages and then is run through a Java app on a mobile. Sites like Textnovel and Maho i-Land (Magic Island) have thousands of novels to download, with visits busting the three billion mark every month.
The writers tend to be school or university students, so young people in their teens and early twenties who understand what topics their generation are interested in and more importantly, how they want to read it. The mobile phone is not only a deeply personal device, but its portability is perfect for this new cultural phenomenon.
Far from a fad, it's the very definition of personal expression using technology. While it started in Japan, it's now caught on in China too and we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for the strange, yet fascinating 'keitai shousetsu' craze to reach the UK.
