Notepaper: A Narrative Writing Guide

Disclaimer: This is not a definitive guide to writing. Please read the Forward for details.

Moon Byulyi wanted to write a book. A fully fleshed, multi-chaptered masterpiece dedicated to the greatest love of her life. She had heard stories of ancient artists creating entire plays, novels, and symphonies, and surely there was nothing more romantic than such dramatic labours of love. She had been writing songs for years, and had this not been such a cliche, she may have considered taking the easy route. But Yongsun deserved so much more than easy.

The trouble was...she had no clue where to start.

It seemed like a ridiculous idea at first, approaching the object of her mission for advice to fulfill the goals of this exact mission, but it seemed safe to assume that if she knew the rules of the game, then she could play by those rules and blow her mind. And, really, who thought more about writing than Kim Yongsun? The woman who snuck breaks from work just to tweak a couple of sentences a few more times. The woman whose eyes would light at the mention of literature, and whose written worlds could be the source of so much joy and sadness in Byulyi’s life. Byulyi wanted to give her all the worlds if they brought even a fraction of the happiness that Yongsun’s work had given her.

"You want me to teach you how to write?" Yongsun looked up from the notebook on her lap. She bit the eraser topping her mechanical pencil to poorly suppress a smile.

Byulyi, laying on her back across Yongsun’s bedroom rug, eyes to the ceiling, nodded.

"You write all the time, Byul. Why do you look so worried?"

Byulyi sat up with a sigh, and dragged herself closer to Yongsun. "Unnie," she whined, leaning into her shoulder, "It's different. I want to write a story this time. Like a book. You know this stuff better than I do. Can you help me? Please?”

Yongsun bit her lip. “I don't know. These things are so personal. Maybe you should try it out for yourself first.”

“But I want to know how you do it. I want it to be really good. Please, unnie?”

“I don't mind,” Yongsun said carefully. She put down her notebook, and poked Byulyi in the arm, “but...I don’t know. There isn’t just one way to do it? I don’t want you to think this is the only way to write, so it feels a little...dangerous?”

“Don't worry, unnie. I can think for myself.”

Yongsun smiled, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know, Byul. I just wanted to be sure.”

“I got it, I got it,” Byulyi replied with a chuckle.

“You’re gonna be cheeky, aren’t you?” Yongsun said with a grin. When Byulyi stuck the tip of her tongue out, she reached up and ruffled Byulyi's bangs. "Alright then, let's do this!”