2.21.22

In this week's dispatch - Russia/Ukraine, a walk across the Williamsburg Bridge, and a bit about my novel writing process.

Over the past week I have been following the developments in the conflict between Russian and Ukraine. I intended to write on this topic but I am reluctant to share yet - there is still so much to learn. I've realized this conflict has been evolving throughout my entire lifetime (I was born in 1989) and I am only now interested and learning more about it.

In addition to reading articles and reports about the conflict, I have been watching Oliver Stone's The Putin Interviews. Recorded between 2015 and 2017, the series offers President Putin's first full-length interview with a western filmmaker. We see Putin share his thoughts on global issues, including Ukraine, Crimea, and NATO, as well as training Judo and playing hockey. His statements on the U.S. and its role in the world are particularly interesting.

In other news, I walked over the Williamsburg bridge on Saturday. I took the J from Bushwick and as the train crossed the bridge, there was a winter squall occurring. Furious flurries and strong winds, with near white-out conditions, covered the Williamsburg and East River area. When I exited at the Delancey-Essex stop, the weather was warm and sunny again. I walked to SoHo to run some errands and then walked back to Brooklyn over the bridge. The sun was warm, with temperatures in the 40s; I walked with my coat opened. When I made my way down to Domino Park, clouds had rolled in and the cold winds picked up. The wind was powerful - I could lean into it with my arms out and let it hold me up. I walked to Bedford and took the L back to Bushwick.

Earlier in the week, I printed out the approximately 60 pages of a fictional novel I'm writing. Over the past year, I've been writing in the morning by setting a timer and just trying to follow the characters, letting the story unveil itself to me. I had a basic idea of what I wanted to write about but no outline or plot ideas. Now after writing for a while, I've come to a crossroads where I feel its time to try to connect the threads by creating an outline. There are scenes which I like and others which fall flat. As I continue, each scene will have to be fleshed out more because I've just been getting the story out - I still don't know the entire story.

Working on this piece is a fun and exciting process. I experiment with different things and try to push the writing forward. When I first started writing, I struggled with dialogue because I haven't written a fictional work before. Even if the piece doesn’t pan out into a novel, I'm still learning.

Until next week,
KW

Monthly Roundup - What I'm reading, watching and listening to: February Edition

Books: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 

Since roughly the beginning of the year, I've been reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'. I'm enjoying it but I've been reading slowly, usually before bed. Written in 1943 by Betty Smith, the story chronicles the life of young Francie Nolan who comes of age in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the 1910s and 20s. Smith is an incredible story teller. Each chapter is a scene, a story on it's own, which transports the reader back to that time period. We get a look into the poor, mostly immigrant community of Williamsburg and the trials and tribulations of the Nolan family as Francie grows up. Having lived in Williamsburg and now in Bushwick, it's interesting to see some familiar streets mentioned in the book as I can compare today's Brooklyn to Smith's Brooklyn. I'm about two-thirds finished with the book. I'm interested to see how it ends, but it's taken me on such a journey that I don't want it too end too soon.

Music: Stephane Wrembel's Django Experiment; Lettuce Elevate

I've been hooked on the music of Stephane Wrembel lately, a French guitarist who plays the 'gypsy jazz' music of Django Reinhardt. I learned about Wrembel from the movie Midnight in Paris, which features his song 'Bistro Fada'. I downloaded a few of his Django Experiment albums which features songs done in the traditional style of jazz in the '20s while other songs have more of a modern interpretation. This style of music really resonates with me lately. I especially enjoyed this online performance as well.

Lettuce has been one of my favorite bands for many years and they continue to play and write music which hooks me. Every time I see them live, the band is better than the last time I saw them. I've been listening to their 2019 album Elevate lately but their live shows are especially captivating - I found this show from 2017 and it's full of the raging funk one can expect from Lettuce.

TV: The Gilded Age

I don’t watch much TV. I don’t have any streaming subscriptions. In fact, I don’t even own a TV. But occasionally a series will capture my attention. I'm a big fan of Downton Abbey and writer/director/producer Julian Fellowes has a new show on HBO. The Gilded Age is set in New York City in the late 19th century. Mostly I'm interested in the history of the era, when rich, powerful families like the Astors, Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, shaped the city and country as we know it. Some historic Gilded age mansions still exist in Manhattan today. There's only three episodes of the show available but its kept me watching so far.

Podcasts: Tanis

Ok I confess - I'm obsessed with Tanis. I wrote a bit about Rabbits, the new novel from writer/producer Terry Miles, but I haven't done a deep dive into Tanis yet (coming soon). This is the third time I'm listening to the podcast. Each time, I discover new tidbits, things I didn't pick up on the first or second listen. The subject matter is what really hooks me- a mysterious place in the woods of the Pacific Northwest where strange things occur. It's not clear who or what this place is but protagonist Nic Silver (Terry Miles) wants to find out. Equal parts conspiracy, historical, spiritual and technological, Tanis has it all for me: the story, the writing, the acting and the sound design is really well done. It's my favorite fictional podcast out there. I usually listen during work when I need to get some mindless task done like inputting data to an Excel sheet. I can just zone out and listen to Nic, MK and the gang delve deeper into the mystery. Recently, I downloaded Season 1 and listened to a few hours while on a road trip - it felt more like how a book unfolds, instead of just tuning-in to an episode here and there. I'm currently working my way through Season 2.

Movies: Encounters at the End of the World; Stalker. 

It's winter here in New York. I find the snow and cold comforting - the city is quieter, the pace is slower. One cold night, I put on Werner Herzog's 2007 film Encounters at the End of the World. Herzog travels to Antarctica to investigate the continent and the collection of people stationed there. As Herzog says, "Antarctica is not the moon, even though sometimes it feels like it."

In the podcast Tanis, Nic Silver mentions the Strugastky brothers sci-fi novel The Roadside Picnic and Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, also written by the Strugatsky brothers. As I continue down the Tanis rabbit hole, I had to watch Stalker. I can see how the movie influenced Terry Miles while writing and creating Tanis, as the podcast draws heavily on Stalker. On the face, the movie is about a Stalker, a guide, who brings a Writer and a Professor into The Zone, a mysterious place full of traps but where there is a Room which can make your deepest desires come true. It's an interesting film and unlike anything I've ever seen. It's hard to explain, hard to follow at times and I'm not sure what it's really about but I loved it regardless. 

On journaling and other writing.

Writing helps me focus. By journaling in the morning, I can 'download' my thoughts, feelings and observations to the page, clearing my head while getting my brain working creatively. There's no form, just a few paragraphs on what's going on and what I'm thinking. I don't judge what I've written; I just write. This clears the way for more creative work. Here is a brief description of my journaling and writing habits. 

 

Journals

I wake up between 6 and 630am. I have a glass of water, wash my face, brush my teeth and do some stretching. Next, I perform several rounds of breathing exercise per the Wim Hof method, followed by meditation. Then, I grab a cup of coffee and begin writing.

In a daily planner, I record a brief description of the previous day's events and metrics including: wake and sleep times, meals ate, and miles walked. Recording these details lets me look back on what the day was like and what I accomplished.

In another notebook, I make a journal entry everyday (well, almost everyday). Usually I'll write about what happened the previous day. Journaling lets me write about anything and everything, in no particular order. I can get whatever's floating around in my mind onto the page. This is a great morning practice because I can exercise my brain by focusing on the writing. Last year, I journaled everyday for 80 days which solidified journaling as part of my morning routine. After journaling I will work on a blog post (as I am doing now) or another creative writing project. 

Notebooks

While watching or listening to something throughout the day, I will jot down details in another notebook (I have lots of notebooks). I do this for later reference but also because note-taking helps to remember details. Sometimes these notes become a blog post or another piece of writing. Browsing through my notebook, I see notes on various topics strewn about; they include my interests at that particular time, my observations, and my thoughts.

Typewriting

Since picking up a typewriter last week, I've been experimenting with different styles of writing. Sometimes I'll write a journal-style piece or a creative-nonfiction essay. Last week, I took a scene from a fictional novel I'm writing and tried it out on the typewriter. As an exercise, I re-wrote the screen from memory to see how it would come out. With the typewriter, I'm learning not to 'micro-edit'. When I write on the computer, I'll immediately edit what I wrote instead of getting it down as it comes and editing later, like I do with the typewriter. Plus, the typewriter is just fun to use.

Whether using a pencil in a journal, blogging on my laptop, or using a typewriter, writing helps me focus. It lets me spit out all my thoughts and organize them. I enjoy the editing process, where random sentences can come together into a cohesive piece. Even if I don't work on a project, I'm still glad I journaled that day. I will always find the time and place to write. When I'm writing, I'm only focused on what's in front of me.

KW

P.S. See below for scans of my first draft of this post.