Analyzing Character Growth through Jiwoo Kim's "Yeouya"

by Kenzo Fachin

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Jiwoo Kim’s 2024 short story “Yuuya” features an established author who is in writer’s block and struggles with letting go of past experiences. Based on my analysis of the story, Jiwoo Kim uses the dramatic code, the story world, and moral argument to make her story compelling and entertaining.

“Yuuya (여우야)” is a short story written by Jiwoo Kim that became the ultimate winner of 2024 HIS Writes. The story features two characters; the main character and Yuna, his past lover. The main character is an established writer, however, recently he has struggled in the art of writing especially because of writer’s block. Please read Jiwoo Kim’s Yuuya before continuing to read this article.

Analysis

Jiwoo Kim’s story, Yuuya, has excellent use of characters in the field of relationships, desire, and self-revelation because characters are the pillars of the story, and it is what makes the story entertaining to readers.

Every great character has one thing in common: Desire and weakness(s). Although a lot of writers assume that what makes the story great is the moral argument, theme, or settings, in general, great characters, are the one that makes a story compelling.  Great characters not only make the story compelling, but they also add layers, one that makes a deep connection to the readers.

 

Character brings wealth to the story if all of the three areas are clearly written.

For instance, in the story Yuuya, the main character- Jinyoung, has clear weaknesses and desires. At the very beginning of the story, it is shown that he is in writer’s block. Additionally, throughout the story with excellent use of flashbacks, Jiwoo Kim establishes another weakness of Jinyoung- not being able to move on from his past experiences of loving Yuna. These weaknesses make the character of Jinyoung much more realistic and relatable. 

The characters in Yuuya help the story to be more organized by having a clear desire that readers can easily relate to. One example of this is found in the character of Jiyoung, who struggles with writer’s block and wants to overcome it. This motivation is found in the text, “I sat down in my seat again, hands on the keyboard, hoping to progress the

manuscript in any kind of way.” While this quote is just one part of the text, Jiwoo Kim reveals Jinyoung’s desire by hinting at it in sentences throughout the first part of the story. This allows readers to cheer the main character and sets the basis of the dramatic code- the desire for the third element; character growth.

Character growth is the final element used in Jiwoo Kim’s story-Yuuya to make it compelling and entertaining. As readers, while reading or hearing the story we often has inner desire of seeing the change in the characters because of our desire to always move forward as expressed in the annual theme of kaizen. An illustration of this is the character of Jinyoung, where after meeting with Yuna he finally let go of his past experience. This creates a catharsis to readers, the feeling of something complex and interjected being simple and free which overall enhances the ending of the story. 

Overall, Yuuya is written in a way that appeals to readers through the techniques and value on characters; their desires, developments, and growth. Again, if you got interested in reading our #1 His Writes story after reading this article, you can read it here.

Lastly, I want to give huge thanks to John Truby for providing the creative writing class with dynamic and effective ways to create a great story. You can try reading his book, The Anatomy of the Story yourself.