The revised edition of 『The Front Line of Writing』, a book that "elevates readers with a passion for writing" and inspires them to "read and write 'together' rather than alone," has been published.
It reflects the changes made over the past seven years since its first publication in 2015, including a new cover and a reorganization of the popular "Books Read in Writing Class" list.


A collection of essays containing “very profound reflections on reading, thinking, and writing,” a collection of kind advice on the problems and concerns that anyone who begins writing faces, and a class journal documenting the changes students experience before and after a writing class.
"The Front Line of Writing" is a book like a warm hand extended to those who are hungry for "feeling," who want to shake the limits of "me" and "life," who want to broaden their understanding of humanity, and in other words, who want to change their lives through writing.

“As our lives become more precarious and the world moves toward greater misery, I believe writing should be a means to speak to my ever-fleeing life, to grasp the true nature of things, to bring life to living things, and to contemplate human dignity.”
--- p.23

“As with all things in life, writing doesn’t really change anything.
But everything changes.
“It is in the sense that we become ‘advocates of life’ who feel that life is not getting any worse, and who are able to maintain dignity even when it gets worse, and who strive to be sensitive to the being we encounter at every moment.”
--- p.42

“Writing is a craft for understanding life, and it requires constant practice.
It is about developing a sense of awareness of what is welling up within oneself, the logical and emotional capacity to express one's desires and rights, and the knowledge and perspective to read the world.
Then, you may or may not become a master of life, but you can live without getting any worse.”
--- p.43

“Writing must begin with shaking the limits of ‘me’ and ‘life.’
'Life' is a boring repetition of the same routine day after day.
The series of events, big and small, that bring joy and sorrow is only a small part of life.
The scope of ‘I’ is also not limited to the physical body with flesh and blood.
It is the sum total of the mind and the sum total of relationships. I am made up of things that are not me. Let's look at the language I use. It is the sum total of the words of the books I've read, the media I've encountered, the family I've lived with, the lovers I've met, and the friends I've played with.
--- p.53

“Wanting to write and actually writing are the same thing. They are two completely different worlds. One is something that makes you feel good, and the other is something that makes your body feel exhausted.
(...)? I often see people around me who want to write but haven't written a single article in years.
“You have to distinguish between wanting to write and enjoying the ‘feeling’ of wanting to write.”
--- pp.55~56

“What I write is me.
Even if it seems lacking, it is who you are now.
I like writing because it allows me to reveal and accept myself as I am, and because I improve little by little through my failures.
The constant process of writing, getting disappointed, and then writing again is very similar to living.
As Kim Su-yeong's poem "Aejeongjidun" says, "Life is infinite" and writing is also infinite."
--- p.58

“Writing about pain is writing about struggle.
It is a struggle against the illusion of self created by the gaze of others, a struggle between the possibilities that can be used and the possibilities that cannot be used, a struggle to select words that arise from a place of confusion and excess at every moment.
After this fierce fight, even if it is a petty self-assertion or a timid revenge against life, it is meaningful.”
--- p.64

“Almost all good writers have read good books.
Reading and writing are different acts, but their content is closely connected.
Reading becomes the foundation and writing sprouts the leaves.
Reading books broadens your perspective on the world and develops an eye for understanding people.
Gain insight into what the world is like.
“Learn the use, construction, and expressive power of your native language.”
--- p.82

“A poem that is not useful and therefore not oppressive.
A poem that is considered useless in this day and age.
A poem that disturbs the mind with its strange combination of words.
“As they pass through the simplest of poems, the scholars become aware of the oppression imposed on them.”
--- p.95

“Even if it is simple and rough, studying is reading poetry and struggling to explain it with your own feelings and thoughts.
This is the true joy of reading.
Don't submit to the authority of (the scholar) but focus on (your own) feelings.
The essence of poetry is not to expand knowledge, but to infinitely unfold the fabric of life.
No matter how difficult the poem is, I advised people not to look at reference books when reading it for the first time.”
--- pp.100~101

“Good writing asks questions.
Before telling people to be good citizens, good mothers, and good students, let's ask for their definitions.
Who decides what a good mother is? From whose perspective is it good? Is it peace in the family, or is it the happiness of a woman?
Sometimes morality is nothing more than a cheap device to protect real-world institutions like family and school.
It cultivates tame individuals who live by habitually sticking to the average of everyday life.
But there is no such thing as an average life or a set moral code.
“If there are a thousand lives, there must be a thousand morals.”
--- p.118

“Awareness of the problem is neither grand nor difficult.
It's an interest in things that people don't pay attention to.
It's questionable.
“It’s about focusing on, observing, and questioning situations and emotions, such as the natural flow of the world as if it were always there, such as a mother waking up every day to cook, a supermarket employee offering a mechanical greeting, or a feeling of discomfort for no reason.”
--- pp.137~138

“People with many question marks in their hearts are more likely to write good articles.
Because you will be triggered and inspired by even the smallest stimulus.
At some point, that question mark turns into an exclamation mark, and as you pass through another phase of life, that exclamation mark becomes a question mark again.
I started to think that maybe that wasn't all that I believed.
“The repetition and circulation of those question marks and exclamation marks gives rise to one’s own thoughts.”

--- p.138