I watch horror-game streamers whenever I need a creative break. I used to feel very differently about writing versus not writing and wanting to watch video games when I had time to work but didn’t want to. Then I realized I always end up writing after or around my loafing sessions, so I don’t look at them as a time-sink anymore. And once you start following a great gaming channel you come to see that it’s not about the games. You’re really wanting the wit of the person walking their little characters through them.
One of the first gamers I started watching is Sutak, an anonymous Korean streamer who might be one of the best because he’s so clever and chill. He’s also been able to keep that job going forever, probably because he’s good at protecting his days off, so as not to get burned out. When I was young I was always on the other side of that—I thought I needed to defend myself against everything outside of writing. It’s different for me now, and I’m glad that it is. I don’t know if it’s Sutak or someone else who inspired me directly, but I’ve learned to recognize this attitude of respecting and enjoying time away from one’s creative work in others as a method of getting inspired.
—Mi Jin Kim, author of Invitation (University of Nebraska Press, 2025)