How Jin Se-yeon Overcame Fear to Publish Her First Essay: A Journey from Actress to Author

Photo=MBC Radio Star screenshot

[Sports Today reporter Song O-jeong] Actress Jin Seo-yeon revealed what prompted her to make her debut as an author.

She confirmed she now carries a new credit — author — after releasing an essay collection.

Jin said she reproduced, word for word, the diary she kept for nine years while struggling as an unknown actress and compiled it into the book. The entries consistently return to one refrain: “You can do it” — an unwavering message of encouragement.

She added that she originally posted the pieces privately on social media under the pen name “Byeoljei,” so followers wouldn’t know it was her. A publisher later reached out expressing interest in turning the writing into a book, and they realized it was her during their first meeting, she said.

She said she had planned to publish earlier but delayed for about four years out of fear. “I kept thinking, who would be interested in my diary?” she admitted. The publisher persuaded her by showing how they would organize the diary into sections, and the book finally came out after four years. It’s already in its fourth printing, she noted.

Fellow panelist Kim Gu-ra joked, “I’ve put out about four books myself, so a fourth printing is a success,” then quipped, “What helps actors’ essays is the slick photos — comedians’ books tend to look pretty shabby,” drawing laughter.

Jin also explained the line on her book cover, “Because I’m nothing, I can be anything.” She said she wrote it while preparing for the first shoot of the film Dokjeon (Believer), a moment when she was terrified. The opening scene required her to curse, and she wrote the line at home because she was so scared, she said.

[Sports Today reporter Song O-jeong ent@stoo.com]
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