I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. There was not enough time to write and I didn't know how to write novels. Therefore, I made written collages of aphorisms and rags.
Haruki MurakamiNot just beautiful, though โ the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And theyโre watching me. What Iโve up till now, what Iโm going to do โ they know it all. Nothing gets past their watchful eyes. As I sit there under the shining night sky, again a violent fear takes hold of me. My heartโs pounding a mile a minute, and I can barely breathe. All these millions of stars looking down on me, and Iโve never given them more than a passing thought before. Not just the stars โ how many other things havenโt I noticed in the world, things I know nothing about?
Haruki MurakamiFar away, I could hear them lapping up my brains. Like Macbeth's witches, the three lithe cats surrounded my broken head, slurping up that thick soup inside. The tips of their rough tongues licked the soft folds of my mind. And with each lick my consciousness flickered like a flame and faded away.
Haruki MurakamiWhether in music or in fiction, the most basic thing is rhythm. Your style needs to have good, natural, steady rhythm, or people won't keep reading your work.
Haruki Murakami