Preface ─ 8

Part 1: If we each wrote poetry in our own rooms every day
You already know the poem ─ 16
The Writer's Mind ─ 20
Poetry and Sorrow ─ 24
What is a metaphor? ─ 28
What's in your cart ─ 38
Night, Candlelight, Poetry, Secrets ─ 43
How should we understand poetry? ─ 47
Why is poetry so difficult? ─ 52
How to Read Poetry: The Musical Instrument Player ─ 56
A Line Shining Like a Sword ─ 61
Miracles Hidden Everywhere ─ 65
Can Anger Become Poetry? ─ 68
The Weight of Longing ─ 73
Can Poetry Be Taught? ─ 77
When you say you like something, what's inside it ─ 82
The Crossroads of Lists ─ 87
Good Things to Think About ─ 90
What the Eyes Do - 94
What to Write: About Materials ─ 100

Part 2 Workshop
Pencil ─ 108
What I Think About When I Write ─ 113
Poetic Dreams ─ 122
Body Formula ─ 134
The Feeling of Living Life as a "Gap": The Joy of Creation ─ 138
Sealing a Moment Makes It Eternal ─ 146
Speaking Gracefully in a Terrible World ─ 151
Moments That Cannot Be Written ─ 155
Bookstore ─ 161
The Word "Yeoryu" - 165
The Anxiety of "Three" ─ 168

Part 3 To those who want to become poets
About the Debut - 174
Birth ─ 179
How to Love Innocently ─ 183

Fruit Basket with Questions Part 4
- The writer, you are the one asking the question
On Moderation - 192
Poetry and Tears ─ 196
The Form of Poetry - 200
Even if you're not a major ─ 203
Subway City ─ 207
Good Poetry, Bad Poetry ─ 209
Writing a lot ─ 211
Life with and without Poetry ─ 214

[supplement]
1.
Apple Tree ─ 219
2.
A Conversation with the Poet (with Im Sol-a) ─ 237

To you, 'gentle courage,
A wind that causes a small jolt,
I want to give you some 'warm encouragement'

“I am bound when I read, but I am free when I write.”

Author Park Yeon-jun's new collection of essays, "The Feeling of Writing," has been published.
He has been loved by readers in many ways, including through his poetry collections 『The Scream of Eyelashes』, 『Father Called Me Sister-in-Law』, 『Venus Pudica』, 『Night, Rain, Snake』, and his prose collections 『Commotion』, 『Life Flows Strangely』, and 『Every Month, Every Day』. This time, he guides us into the world of reading and writing poetry.

"What on earth is poetry? How do you read it? What is the poet's mind? How do writers write? Could I possibly write poetry?" If you're someone who's ever wavered or hesitated before these questions, I welcome you with open arms. This book gently tells you that the "feeling of writing" isn't reserved for a special "talent" or a select few; it's something you can experience, too.


“When I write, I feel like I’m not myself.

Being all me without being me, being all me without being me, being a me I've never met before.
When I write, I feel like everything is happening.

… …
When writing poetry,
I feel like I'm flying with my wings spread.

“Even if I lose my wings, I can still be me, I can still fly!”
--- From 『Poetry Always Comes as a New Cat』


An elegant practical book for those who suddenly become curious about poetry!

“To write is to break a life that is running smoothly.
“It’s about breaking something and then putting it back together to make something new.”
--- From 『Poetry Always Comes as a New Cat』

Are you a reader? Are you a writer? Do you long to read, but sometimes find it difficult? Do you strive to stay faithful to your reading position? Do you sometimes feel the urge to write? Have you already experienced the feeling of writing? If you nodded even once, you've come to the right place.
In Part 1, the author speaks gently to those who are curious about poetry but find it difficult to become familiar with it. This book, taking as its seeds the writings originally published in a unique "radio serial" format on KBS Radio's "Your Night and Music," now sprouts and sprouts for readers rather than listeners.
As readers follow the author's affectionate voice, they are not only immersed in 'reading poetry' but also arrive at the doorstep of the world of 'writing poetry'.


“You know intuitively what poetry is.
You may have wandered around a city and been intoxicated by the 'poetic spirit'.
“Can you be sure that you are a person who is far from poetry?”
--- From "You Already Know Poetry"

In Part 2, prose about writing and life is presented under the title ‘Workshop.’
It contains the mind and attitude of the writer of poetry and prose, and further, his attitude toward life.
Just like if you keep pronouncing 'how to write', it will sound like 'how to live'.
To love innocently, to be honest, to start comfortably without being crushed by perfectionism, to be filled with your own thoughts… … .
His bold, passionate, yet refreshing energy and unique perspective will provide a fulfilling experience not only for Park Yeon-jun's existing readers but also for all those curious about the mind and attitude of a "writer."


“When writing an essay, if you worry too much about ‘how it will look,’ you will fail.
It's like a swimmer entering a competition worrying about how his stroke will look.
If you do that, you'll be eliminated from the competition! Once you're in the water, you have to let go of your thoughts and move forward.
Feeling the water and speed.
“As if I don’t know what’s going on outside the water.”
--- From 『Things to Think About When Writing』

Parts 3 and 4 contain stories for those who want to be born as poets (or writers) in the form of letters and Q&As.
Readers who have accompanied us on this warm journey, where lights are turned on one by one as we grope our way along the long road, may be sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper tonight.
How about believing the author's words, "A person who holds a pencil can become the conductor of his own life" (p. 11), and becoming the conductor of the night?
In that way, ‘I’ can become more and more myself.
The appendix in the latter half includes three prose pieces by members of the 'Apple Club', who write and read poetry together with author Park Yeon-jun.
It's heartbreaking to witness someone become a 'writer'.
These three solid and warm words, which pass through the throat and are deeply embedded in the body, seem to beckon both the author and the reader to join together.
Finally, in the interview section between the author and poet Im Sol-a, the reader becomes an audience member closely listening to the conversations between poets, especially female poets of this era.
Particularly impressive was the conversation about the reality of encountering flat views and narrow interpretations surrounding the poetry of female writers, and about living as a female poet in this society.
The author hopes that this book will be an elegant and practical guide for those who want to get closer to poetry, and reveals that he wrote it with great care, thinking of "a person who suddenly develops a desire to write poetry one day."
If you want to experience the joy of reading poetry, if you need the courage to start, and if you want to experience the feeling of writing, I invite you to accept this book's special invitation.
If we each wrote poetry in our rooms every day, the world might be a little different.

“I wrote this book because I wanted to share the ‘feeling of writing’ with you.
I wanted to share the feeling of having your thoughts free at your fingertips.
Watching the impetuous and imperfect soul walk out of me and land on a blank sheet of paper, my fingers following him, stopping and staring, blaming him for his foolishness, entangling ourselves and growing, then finally uniting with him on the paper! I want to share with you the feeling of that moment.
“I want to give you ‘gentle courage, a small spur, and warm encouragement.’”
--- From 『Poetry Always Comes as a New Cat』