[People Met Through Books] After the Novel ‘Hyunamdong Bookstore,’ Essay Again… Hwang Boreum “I Want to Fulfill My Dream of Being a Lifelong Writer”

Essay 'Dansun Saenghwalja' Published
Return to Essays After Novel 'Welcome to Hyunam-dong Bookstore'
"Not Yet in Stable Phase as Full-Time Writer"
"Dream and Hope to Be a Lifelong Writer"

Writer Hwang Boreum lived as an office worker for about seven years. She worked as a software developer at a large corporation, among other roles. Although it was a relatively stable job, she could not find a sense of ‘satisfaction’ within it. Her happiness lay elsewhere. She discovered rich meaning in building sentences to complete a piece of writing. She felt joy in filling her mind with sentences and spending time contemplating better ones. Ultimately, she took the bold step of resigning. Afterward, she devoted over ten years to being a full-time writer, focusing on essay writing, but did not achieve satisfying success.

The response unexpectedly sprouted from her novels. When she was about to close the chapter on her thirties as a full-time writer and return to office work on January 1, 2021, her novel Welcome to Hyunamdong Bookstore won a contest, turning the period into a comma and allowing her to continue writing. Instead of starting work at 9 a.m., she picked up the pen again, driven by the desire to write, and captured her circumstances and feelings in the essay Simple Life (Yeollimwon). We met writer Hwang Boreum, who said she came to understand the saying, “It’s relatively easy to become a writer, but very difficult to remain one.”

Hwang Boreum, Artist

- Welcome to Hyunamdong Bookstore recorded a huge success. I understand you have been busy since then.

▲Last year, many readers came to see me, so I traveled by train and bus to many places. Except for occasional trips, I rarely moved far from home, so visiting local libraries or neighborhood bookstores to meet readers was always a big deal for me. I was very nervous and would come home exhausted every time. I had planned to write while managing these schedules, but I lacked the energy and couldn’t write as much as I wanted last year. Eventually, I cleared my schedule briefly to write this book, and after submitting the manuscript to the publisher, I have been actively meeting readers again.

- I heard the response from overseas readers is also enthusiastic.

▲Somehow, overseas readers found my social media accounts and actively share their reviews. We sometimes have brief conversations, and interestingly, their impressions are similar to those of Korean readers. Every time I use a translator to reply, I think I should study English more. (laughs)

- This is your first essay after starting as an essayist and achieving bestseller status as a novelist.

▲While writing this book, I often heard people ask if it was burdensome. At first, I didn’t know how to answer, but later I kept asking myself, “Is it burdensome?” Some days the answer was “No,” other days “Yes,” and sometimes “So much that I can’t write a single word!” After struggling with what kind of writing I should do, I returned to my usual thought: “If it’s good for me to read, that’s enough.” When I felt burdened, I encouraged myself this way. Now that the book is published, I hope the writing I enjoy reading will also be good for readers.

- You originally started as an essayist and then expanded your writing to novels. Do you have a personal preference between essays and novels?

▲I began my writing career with essays. Then, feeling very exhausted, I wrote novels almost like a side project. Having lived as an essayist for a long time, naturally, I feel more attached to essays. However, when comparing affection without genre distinctions, I give equal love to both. Since the sentences that came from my fingertips became stories, now I cherish them all.

- You struggled to achieve your dream of becoming a full-time writer. You had several entries and resignations from jobs, but now it seems you have settled stably as a full-time writer.

▲I want to live as a full-time writer for a long time, but I don’t know if I can. Honestly, I don’t yet think I have settled stably. As I said in the book, it’s not common for a writer’s writing to become a “heaping bowl of rice” that nourishes the writer. But I’m just glad I can focus on writing for the next few years. And because of these “few years,” I’m not as anxious as before. This “few years” is a tremendous achievement and opportunity for me. I want to leave the future to my future self and spend the time before me well.

- You said, “I liked that writing is not a matter of talent.” You also said it’s a matter of “whether you don’t give up on the tedious ordeal until the end... and whether you endure solitude until the end.”

▲When I read writings by authors like Haruki Murakami saying that talent is necessary for writing, I think, “That might really be true,” but I inevitably tilt my head in doubt. Maybe Murakami was thinking of great writers like himself when talking about talent. I became a writer because I liked writing and kept writing rather than because of talent. I think many writers share similar thoughts. What we needed during the publishing process was not genius talent but the time we gritted our teeth and wrote even when we couldn’t.

- Did you go through such times while writing this book as well?

▲There were definitely times when I had to grit my teeth. After the deadline was set, my health deteriorated, and for a month or two, I had to write in a state that resembled a tragic protagonist’s appearance and mental condition. Looking back now, I wonder how I managed to write, but on the other hand, I think I endured that time because I had to write.

- You must have needed strength to endure. How did you relieve your hardships? You also said that “becoming light even for just one hour or one day” was “the rest I found.”

▲When I feel exhausted while writing, I let myself go in a way that doesn’t pressure me. In my early to mid-thirties, I pushed myself to write at least one more line, but now my stamina has dropped, and I get tired too easily. This time, when I got tired, I distanced myself from writing. Whether cleaning or taking a walk, sometimes I spent time thinking about why the task felt particularly hard, and sometimes I calmed my mind by loudly saying to myself, “It’s not a big deal.” If the hardship couldn’t be overcome that way, I just endured it. Over time, with the help of time, it gradually became less difficult.

- You lived an unwanted life for ten years from college entrance to resignation, so you decided to invest the next ten years in finding your dream, and as a result, you now exist as a writer. How much have your dreams and happiness been fulfilled?

▲After trying various things for ten years, I planned to do whatever I liked for the rest of my life. Writing was one of those things, and as I wrote, I grew to love it so much that, surprisingly, I became a writer. I believe I have just entered the beginning of my dream. I feel happiness in terms of life satisfaction. I want to continue and fulfill my dream of being a lifelong writer.

- If young people who have dreams but hesitate or wander because they cannot find their dreams come to you, what would you say to them?

▲I hope they look deeply into themselves to understand what kind of relationship they need to have with their dreams. Some people can live well day by day without relating to dreams, while others need to be closely connected to their dreams to live well. If you are the latter, I recommend trying once within a responsible limit for your dream. For those who haven’t found their dream, I hope they don’t set limits and steadily accumulate experiences. I believe dreams don’t suddenly come like inspiration one day. If, during your experiences, you feel a desire to do something well, that moment might be when you find your dream.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.