Writing From Experience
Whenever I injure myself I whine a lot then take great delight in showing everyone my war wounds. All the shop assistants in my local area have now seen me mime my accident in Seoul Foreigners Cemetery. I’ll tell you dear blog reader that it’s not pleasant typing with three fingers outstretched and bandaged. I think that’s worse than the actual cuts.
There, war story shared, now let’s get on with something I’ve been wanting to blog about for several days now. Last week I read Human Decency by Gong Ji Young. It is available in English translation as part of the Portable Library of Korean Literature. There are two short stories in this little book, “Human Decency” and “Dreams.”
“Human Decency” is about a journalist who goes to interview two very different people. One is an artist and the other has left prison after being kept there for twenty years as punishment for his actions against the dictatorship. The journalist is haunted by her own past in the dissident movement and thinks about her reaction to these two figures.
“Dreams” is about a novelist with serious writers block who goes on a fishing trip with two fellow artists. She is haunted by the student protest movement of the 1980s and eventually realises that this is what she should write about. I found it very interesting because I think many writers ignore their own experiences and do not write about what they know. I know I certainly do. I would love to write a novel (I think there is no shame in saying this as most people would love to write a novel) but I have never made any progress with it because I’ve picked subjects that have little relation to my own experiences.
