When Paul Yoon was young, his best friend was his bicycle.聽
鈥淢y childhood memories are of constant movement,鈥� he said. 鈥淲herever we moved to, I always had my bicycle. It let me be free around the neighborhood and explore.鈥澛�
Yoon鈥檚 bicycle unlocked 鈥渋maginary worlds.鈥� Enveloped by an ever-changing landscape and solitary with his thoughts atop those two wheels, his imagination flourished. Now, he spends many hours each day hoping to unfurl imaginary worlds for the creative writing students he mentors at Harvard University.
Rootless origins
Yoon鈥檚 鈥渞ootlessness鈥� fed his writing.聽
鈥淎ll of my characters are travelers one way or another,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat feeling of trying to find a home and feel settled but never quite achieving that is one that resonates.鈥�
Little changed since Yoon鈥檚 childhood, mirrored in both his personal life and his writing.聽
鈥淭o this day, I鈥檓 a little restless,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 still like to travel every few years. It鈥檚 ingrained in me.鈥�
College path
Yoon attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where his four-year experience stacked neatly into an infinite pile of books.
鈥淚 read,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was my college experience. I read books. We were able to take these amazing classes that just spanned everything. You could take a Russian Lit class or a German Lit class, so they were place-specific. I really felt like I was getting a global education.鈥�
By then, Yoon had his mind set on becoming a writer. Each sunset marked the beginning of Yoon鈥檚 hours of writing late into the darkness.
鈥淚t was super productive for me to be constantly reading but writing at night as well, writing my own stuff,鈥� he said.
Engaging with students聽
Yoon said aside from coaching students in creative writing, his work as a Senior Lecturer for Harvard鈥檚 Department of English entails 鈥渁 lot of flailing around, stumbling, making mistakes鈥� and uncertainty about whether he is聽 鈥渄oing anything of use.鈥�
Yoon said his students are characterized by their 鈥済enerosity of spirit鈥� and undiminishing vigor for every facet of the writing process.
鈥淭hese are people who are in the class because they really want to engage with the process of writing, the imagination and the craft of creating a narrative,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he best part is they give 200% 鈥� always. You hit the ground running. The bar is really high.鈥�
Yoon said he often questions his purpose as a teacher, but the beauty of gathering 鈥渋n a room together, just trying to figure stuff out together鈥� trumps any doubt.
鈥淚 feel like I don鈥檛 know anything 鈥� like a fraud putting on a teacher hat,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have generous students who trust me, so it becomes less about teaching and more about being part of a community for a semester.鈥�
Writing as a canvas
For Yoon, writing is altogether 鈥渏ust hard.鈥�
鈥淔eeling that difficulty and trying to solve a puzzle or being lost in a maze, that feeling can be challenging,鈥� he said.聽
Consequently, Yoon said imposter syndrome 鈥� an inability to believe that his success is deserved 鈥� pervades his work, imbuing uncertainty about the value of texts released to the public.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 never really certain about whether what I put out there is of worth,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t fills me with doubt. What, of all the books and writers out there, do I have to contribute?鈥�
Likewise, Yoon said questioning his worth as an author almost paradoxically undergirds his personal fulfillment.
鈥淲hen you figure out the answer to that, it鈥檚 really magical,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he harder it is, the more beautiful it becomes when you find that light.鈥�
The harder it is, the more beautiful it becomes when you find that light.
Every time Yoon finishes a draft, in all its 鈥渕essy and insane glory,鈥� he is the 鈥渉appiest [he] will ever be.鈥�
鈥淭he editing process, revising draft after draft, building something, burning it and then building it again, all the stuff that comes after the first draft is beautiful,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he process is just lovely to me, but it鈥檚 that first step of the draft when you鈥檝e made it to the finish line in some capacity.鈥�
Yoon said the 鈥渕agic鈥� of writing has been preserved from his days as a young author.聽
鈥淭hat feeling from when I first started writing, when I was 17, has always stayed the same to me,鈥� he said.聽
Yoon said the beauty of fiction writing is being able to engage 鈥渋n dialogue and communicate with the books鈥� he loves. Or, at least he relishes 鈥渟ending them a wave from across the room鈥� in the 鈥済reat house party that is all the wonderful books out there.鈥�
鈥淚 was a reader first and foremost 鈥撀營 am a reader first and foremost 鈥撀燼nd there鈥檚 a lot of great work out there that I love and inspires me,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be able to have work out there in this imaginary place where they鈥檙e all together is an amazing thing, whether it鈥檚 in a bookshop or a library or just in my mind.鈥�
That feeling from when I first started writing has always stayed the same to me.
Yoon is a visual thinker. Or, as he equates it, perhaps a 鈥渇ailed painter.鈥�
鈥淚f I鈥檝e got an image, I want to be in that image for a while,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to stay in that canvas as if it were a painting. It鈥檚 about exploring that canvas, finding a corner in it and simply painting, maybe adding lots of layers of color.鈥澛�
Bergeron Fellowship聽
As part of the Bergeron Fellowship, Yoon engaged with a range of English 10 classes, with a palpable 鈥渏oy鈥� among students that was 鈥渞eally inspiring鈥� and 鈥渕oving.鈥�
鈥淓veryone I鈥檝e met carried with them really beautiful energy,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone just seems game. Even if they鈥檒l never write another thing again or aren鈥檛 really interested in pursuing any of this, everyone was inquisitive.鈥�
Yoon said he hopes the students with whom he met 鈥減ick up a book鈥� of their own volition down the line.
I hope something I said lingers in them for a long time.
鈥淚 hope something I said lingers in them for a long time in a way that maybe helps them in life no matter what path they end up going down,鈥� he said.
Yoon said aspiring writers must be generous, open-minded and all-encompassing with their reading.
鈥淣o one is ever going to force you to do this,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven if you go to a graduate program, sure, you鈥檒l have deadlines, but when you go into the 鈥榬eal world,鈥� nobody is looking over your shoulder. It鈥檚 up to you.鈥�
Yoon urges students to 鈥渘ever lose their passion,鈥� albeit the inevitable flailing, stumbling and mistakes along the way.
