A writer who lived on Taketomi Island until a year ago went to a writer's year-end party alone and had a blast! (Includes a report on the note writing talk session)

On December 21st, I attended the Writer's Year-End Party hosted by the "Marble School," where you can learn skills like interviewing, editing, and public relations.

I suddenly realized that I hadn't really attended large-scale, in-person networking events like this before... I was nervous, but to my surprise, many people knew the story of how "I used to live on Taketomi Island," which made me realize the importance of tagging and sharing information. Yes, from 2019 to 2023, I lived on Taketomi Island for four years with my family of three.

Writer's Year-End Party I'll be reflecting on it at length!

▼ About Marble School

The venue was note place. It was my first time going there too!

The first half was a talk session by Yuki Ishikawa (Yupi-san), a freelance writer who has become very successful as an author thanks to note, and Keisuke Mizuno, a personal editor who supports note writers in their daily work.

The second half was a networking event and year-end party where we all enjoyed drinks and food!

I started working as a freelancer in early summer 2020. Since then, I've admired Yupi-san's approach to sharing information and have secretly copied her. Also, I am currently having Mizuno-san support my own content creation as my personal editor. (I started my Podcast because Mizuno-san gave me a push!)

Since I had never met the real Yupi-san before, I signed up eagerly.

However, as the day approached, my social anxiety kicked in, and I was trembling, thinking, “I’m nervous,” “What if I don’t know anyone?” “70 people signed up!? I can just picture myself standing there all alone...” and so on.

Oh well, I decided to just go for it.

First, I was convinced the venue was in Shibuya, but when I checked the day before, I realized it was in Yotsuya. That was a close call!

Speaking of Yotsuya, it's a place I sometimes go for my child's lessons. Usually, when I go to Yotsuya, I don't know what to do while waiting and always spend the time thinking about how bored I am, so I never imagined note would be so close! If there's another event at note place, I'd love to attend again.

I arrived at Yotsuya Station 20 minutes before the start, and since it looked like I would arrive earlier than expected, I decided to "go a bit closer to the time" and wandered around the neighborhood for a while.

For some reason, I felt an irresistible urge to go into a ramen shop I spotted, but I held back, thinking, "If I go into a ramen shop now, I'll be late." I tend to be easily swayed by whatever catches my eye.

Because I'm this type of person, I find many points of empathy in the content shared by Yupi-san, who has publicly disclosed that she has "ADHD" and has established her branding as a freelancer by understanding her traits and managing herself well.

▼ Yupi-san's 4th book. It describes the reality of being a freelancer in concrete terms, so I recommend it regardless of whether you have ADHD traits or not!

When I arrived at the venue, I was excited to see "that bookshelf I'd often seen on note!" The talk session "Writer's note Utilization Techniques" by Mizuno-san and Yupi-san was great. Their ability to talk in a way that makes people chuckle was impressive.

In particular, there were many things I hadn't been conscious of before regarding "how to title your note if you want it to be read."

▼ A note magazine where Mizuno-san collects "notes with great titles"

The two of them talked about things that really "lower the hurdle for writing notes." So, I'm writing this note now while I'm still in that momentum.

Well, when I looked around the venue, I didn't see any familiar faces, and just as I was thinking, "I'm lonely!", my writer friend N-san came over, and I felt so relieved.

When it came time for the networking session, there were other people I knew or had interacted with on social media, and I realized again how much I love talking to people in person. When I'm home alone, my thoughts tend to go in a negative direction, after all.

Somehow, it was just so much fun. I think the members of the Marble School who hosted it are probably about 10 years younger than me.

Why was it so much fun? I remembered that I have a brother nine years younger than me, and I've always liked hearing about his way of thinking and his culture. Since the age at which they started using the internet is different from ours, the world they see is a bit different, so to speak. They swim through life so lightly, and talking to people of this generation gives me a sense of having my horizons broadened.

Even though Yupi-san has so many achievements, the way she exposes her own flaws is exquisite. That's why I felt once again that people must like her.

I tend to be a bit stiff when it comes to sharing things, and maybe because I'm the eldest daughter, I have a little resistance to showing my bad sides, but I certainly have no shortage of screw-up stories.

(Like forgetting where I parked at the station near my house on the way home and wandering around the station for 15 minutes. Or the story of how my driver's license was revoked a year after I got it. I reflected deeply, retook the test, and now I have a gold license.)

I also found one goal for next year.
"I want to publish a book!"
I want to train my writing muscles on note, share the rare parts that are unique to me, and create proposals. People who started out as writers around the same time as me are actually publishing books one after another, using note as a springboard.

I have a lot of tags, and they're all over the place... In particular, one that is both a social issue and something I'm personally involved in is "children's school non-attendance," but since that involves my children's privacy, I'm hesitant about sharing it. Well, we'll see.

I've written quite a bit, but it was a lovely moment at the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who interacted with me!

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Notice: I've started selling ZINEs in my online shop!

I've started selling the first Zine (self-produced booklet) I ever made, which I sold at the "Literature Flea Market Tokyo" held on December 1st,"Under the Sky of Children and Living Things" in my online shop.

My family, who are frequent movers,lived on Taketomi Island in Okinawa from 2019 to the spring of 2023.This is a photo essay collection that compiles the essays and photos I wrote during that time, from 2019 to 2021. I would be happy if you could pick up a copy.