Status Updates From The Pillow Book of Sei Shon...

She’s very judgmental haha

A good writing exercise might just be to take Sei Shonagon’s categories and make your own lists. If I ever teach high school creative writing I’ll do this

Usually these categories are delivered in narrative so you don’t really notice them, but since her way of writing her diary is list>, you do end up needing to pause after every item to think, Oh I get it or Oh this is how she experiences the world…

“Sei Shōnagon is a gifted woman, to be sure. Yet, if one gives free rein to one's emotions even under the most inappropriate circumstances, if one has to sample each interesting thing that comes along, people are bound to regard one as frivolous.
And how can things turn out well for such a woman?” This is almost our only information about Sei Shōnagon // love her already