Hyeonju Oh/First post/Tues 9-11 a.m

- Write about a pleasant experience you have had with writing. How did this experience affect your attitude toward writing?

 

When I was 19 years old, I was sick of my daily life. Therefore, I decided to participate in something special. At that time, one of the huge publishing companies, Hangil-sa, which publishes remarkable books held a writing competition. The subject was the review for the book named "The story of Rome" by Siono Nanami. The competition didn't have any restriction for participating and I started to write down some magnificent essays in writing papers. The story of Rome, which is known for its' specific description, is also famous for the biased view of the history. So I criticized the problem of that view of the author. 2 months later, I received one call from someone and she told me that I won the 5^th prize and also I'm going to get 100,000 won from that company. For the reason that I was a high school student, I had to say that I can't attend at the award ceremony. But it is still the most pleasant experience that I ever had with writing. By this experience, I can be more positive and confident toward writing than before.

 

- How do you feel about writing in your first language compared to writing in English?

 

The feeling that I have when I write something in my first language is truly different from that I feel when I write in English. First of all, I'm so comfortable when that I write something in Korean. I can sure the time when I make it, and also I can think about the plan after I finish it. To me, writing in my mother tongue is not a big deal. I really enjoy it. But when I have to write in English, I feel sorrow… I cannot imagine when I finish to work, and I'm getting nervous because of the uncertainty about my writing skill. Sometimes, I imagine that I write English-letters to Tom Hiddleston who is a famous Hollywood actor. Then I encouraged a little bit and I think that if I really want to send letters to him, I need to practice my writing skills and I can't avoid English-writing.

 

- Have you ever done any writing for yourself only – letters to friends or relatives, journals, diaries, poems? If so, explain how this writing was different from the writing you did for school assignments.

 

Since I was really young, I regularly write diaries, and I have a lot of letters from friends so I usually reply for them. There is a huge difference between writing for myself and writing for assignments. First of all, when I write for myself, I feel comfortable because I don't have to think of evaluations. I just write what I really feel, what I want to tell, and even I can write some slangs when I get mad. But when I write for school assignments, I have to conserve grammar, the logic… Sometimes, I had to lie for making my essay more fantastic. The real human life is hard to be dramatic like what I wrote in essays. The fact that I'm lying makes me tired. Second, writing for myself is more encouraging than writing for assignments. Assignments means that someone demands me to write something for some reasons. I cannot escape from the pressure that I have to finish to write until the deadline. But writing for myself means that I want to write. There are no stressful thoughts.