Updates
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