Katrin's Newsletter #45: Keep on Keeping on

This brief missive is a way for me to make connections with people interested in art and creativity (sign up here). I'm an author and editor, always on the lookout for inspiration. 

I'm Baaaaack!

I've been MIA and am really looking forward to resuming my regular forays into creativity - thank you for being a reader. If you want to see what occupied much of my summer, check out @sho_fu_den on Instagram. In addition to this sweat labor, I also wrote a screenplay - great fun, though I don't know yet if it's any good :)

HOWEVER, I barely read a single book. That's created some problems for me, as you'll see below.

I'm back in Key West, preoccupied with how we reconnect with our creative selves when things feel stalled. Let me know what works for you. Meanwhile, if you're a writer, I find Jami Attenberg's newsletter to be a constant source of inspiration.

I'll be talking about tension with novelist Michelle Hoover this Saturday, October 29th, on her podcast 7AM NOVELIST. Join in live or listen afterwards!
It's a free 50-day writing challenge that you should check out -
so many great writers talking from the heart about process.

Keep on Keeping On

Writing longform fiction and nonfiction requires unbelievable amounts of stamina and momentum, and that can be challenging to create. Stamina and momentum don't wait for you to look around and find them, like a missing safety pin. Writers often have to build, create, instantiate a sense of drive from nothing. This is what I'm struggling with at the moment.

So I'm back at my desk, getting myself organized. Here are the books I wanted within a hand's reach. I created a calendar and worked out my writing deadlines, and I made a bunch of lists (using a red sharpie on clean white paper, because, well, satisfying!).

I need a deadline to work toward. An endless time horizon = stasis, for me. But life means this-self imposed work schedule gets derailed from time to time. We don't work entirely in isolation - we depend on our readers/ agent/ editor. These last two years have thrown me a few wrenches on that front. Wish me luck as I forge ahead!

RECOMMENDATIONS

For something hilarious, current, sweet yet also intense, try Reservation Dogs on Hulu. After listening to Terri Gross interview the show creator Sterlin Harjo, I signed up again for Hulu. Here's the trailer. I am so in the mood for something that tackles serious subjects without taking itself too seriously!

I recently devoured this NYT article, They Translated Hamilton Into German. Was it Easy? Nein. My new novel is about a young woman who becomes obsessed with translating Madame Bovary; I've been exploring how to maintain authorial intent while also connecting with diverse audiences. They've done that with this adaptation - can you imagine finding a meaningful German equivalent for American rap?! Very cool.