Cha In-pyo / YonhapFor Cha In-pyo, an actor and writer, his fifth full-length novel, “Our Neighborhood Library,” is about what has motivated him to keep writing for 17 years: an abiding sense of gratitude to his readers.“A novel is started by an author, but it is the readers who complete it,” Cha said at a press conference in Jung District, Seoul, on Wednesday. “I poured that gratitude into this book.”The book is Cha’s first novel in two years. This time, he turns to metafiction, following a contemporary writer referred to as “I,” who writes about a painter in Goguryeo, an ancient Korean kingdom that existed from the first century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. In doing so, he contemplates desire, death and the meaning carried by records. At the press conference, Cha opened with modesty and gratitude — an echo of the theme running through his new book.“There are so many excellent writers in Korea,” Cha said. “I don’t think what I’ve done is anything particularly special. That makes me all the more grateful to be here.”“Our Neighborhood Library” opens with a writer in a small library working on a story about Bun-gak, a Goguryeo-era painter who believes he should paint only what he has seen with his own eyes. When an aristocrat orders him to paint a dragon Bun-gak is forced into an impossible act of imagination.Then, one day, a real dragon appears before the writer in the present, whispering words into his ear that unsettle both his ambition to become a bestselling author and his understanding of the limits of creation. As he wrestles with that confusion, he meets readers of his novel at the library, and the book traces his inward journey as he gradually learns to connect with others.The new novel, which took Cha a year and a half to complete, differs from his previous works in that the writer is projected into the book as a character. Cha said he originally picked up his pen simply because he wanted to write a story about a dragon.“At first, it was out of curiosity,” Cha said. “People in every part of the world, across every era, have known about dragons, even though no one has ever actually seen one.”“But as I was writing the draft at the library, I was suddenly struck by a realization about why and how I had come to work on my fifth novel,” he said. “Without the people who read my novels and interpreted them in their own way, I would not have come this far.”As a result, he found himself writing from a different mindset. Previously, he had been determined to write a “good” story. This time, he was trying to express gratitude to the readers who had allowed him to continue writing. Actor and writer Cha In-pyo made his debut as a novelist in 2009 with his first novel, “Goodbye, Hill,” and has continued writing for 17 years. YonhapCha In-pyo’s 17-year journey as a novelist Cha began his career as a writer in 2009 with his first novel, “Goodbye, Hill.” Over the past 17 years, he has continued to write and publish works including “Today’s Forecast,” “Mermaid Hunt” and “Their Day.”Inevitably, expectations are high for “Our Neighborhood Library,” as it is Cha’s first new work in two years after his previous work was selected as a university reading material and won literary awards — honors Cha said he initially tried to refuse. “If One Day We Look at the Same Star,” a revised edition of his debut novel “Goodbye, Hill,” was selected as a reading material for Korean studies classes at the University of Oxford. The book also earned him the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award and the Son Ho-yeon Peace Literature Prize.Knowing so many writers with far more extensive credentials in literary fiction, Cha said he felt he was not entitled to such recognition.“For about a month after receiving the awards, I stopped writing because my book suddenly felt so immature,” he said. “But in the end, I realized that all I could do was write in my own way, so I started writing again.”And those years had been precious, and he felt grateful for them, Cha said. Despite his long career as a celebrity, he had rarely had the chance to meet the public in person. Writing books and holding book concerts, however, allowed him to meet readers directly.“When I first began writing, I did so without knowing who might read my work,” Cha said. “But over time, more and more people began to read it and recognize my existence. Now I believe recognition is the greatest encouragement and comfort one person can offer another.”“I am also grateful to my family and friends,” he added. “Their support made it possible for me to keep writing until now.”This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.