for the second edition of ways of working, we’re joined by writer and club reticent founder valerie estrina, whose newsletter and community examine pop culture, womanhood, and contemporary life with wit, edge, and intent.
on sunday, september 28th, valerie will lead writing in the age of uncertainty, a two-hour workshop on how to create in a time defined by instability and constant change. expect guided prompts, automatic writing, and the space to just word vomit. by the end, each participant will walk away with a piece of their own and the chance to give it voice in the room.
ahead of the workshop, we asked valerie to put pen to paper, or, in this case, fingers to keyboard, and answer a few questions about her craft, her influences, and how she navigates uncertainty.
what first pulled you toward writing? do you remember your earliest memory of putting words to paper?
i’ve loved storytelling since i was a kid. there was something magical and alluring about making a story come alive on a page. just recently, i discovered my notebook entries from when i was 10. it’s a fully fictionalized journal: the girl’s name was jessica. it was, of course, all about me – rather, jessica was a better, older, more accomplished manifestation of myself.
“i think, in a way, writing can start as escapism – we tell ourselves stories in order to live, didion said. then, eventually, it evolved into a skill.”
why substack? what about that format felt right for your voice and ideas?
i started on substack right before the platform blew up. it was a relatively niche, quiet space that felt right to start with – and that has proven to be 100% true, because the majority of my readers have found me directly through other readers sharing my work within the platform. while it’s much bigger now, i think it’s still a great place with a relatively functioning algorithm, i’m mostly very happy with it.
how does writing for digital media compare to more traditional or analog outlets?
beyond the obvious pressure of churning out endless content to stay afloat and not get left behind, i think the nature of anything digital is slightly more ephemeral. it feels transient, on the edge of slipping away, like there’s never enough – but at the same time, that gives you more freedom to experiment, to change your mind, to create the unexpected.
uncertainty is at the core of your workshop. how do you personally navigate it, and what helps you through it?
humans suck at the indefinite, some more than others. i suck the most! for a control freak like myself, realizing that i needed to work on my relationship with certainty was a crucial step. rather than forcing exclamation points where there won’t be any, we should increase our capacity for dealing with the question marks of life.
“a lot of my work revolves around acceptance, and i believe a lot of good things happen when you start challenging your need for certainty.”
who’s an author that shaped you, and what about their work continues to echo in your own writing?
my holy trinity i owe everything to: clarice lispector, annie ernaux, susan sontag. all vastly different authors, all women, all have influenced my thinking in more or less equal measure. lispector is most special to me; she introduced me to the possibility of bending and moulding words like clay to create sentences that don’t necessarily make sense at face value but still evoke something. and when you dig, you understand. a whole new world opened up that day – you can do anything with language, toss it around and play with it. it’s really fascinating.
if you could give one piece of advice to someone starting as a writer, what would it be?
the best writing happens when you’re not writing. i used to think being glued to my laptop on a schedule would make me better at my work. turns out i needed to go outside, be around people from all walks of life, feel the torture of a 9-to-5, and fall deeply in love to let my garden grow and start creating something i’m genuinely proud of. avoid writing for validation. tried it, doesn’t work – quite painful, actually. doesn’t last.
“gut instinct over everything else. got a really weird idea and fear being misunderstood? great, now go all in and don’t water it down..”
do you think writing is still about permanence, or is it more about capturing a fleeting state of mind?
both and neither. writing is an open invitation for the reader to dissect the page however they please – what it’s about is up to them, the intention is no longer yours. i mean that in a good way, it’s kind of an unconditional gift. there are a thousand ways to tell a story and only one way to feel it.
do you believe in writer’s block, or is it just an excuse we invented?
i don’t believe in it, but i also don’t think it’s an excuse per se. it’s very natural. writer’s block is mostly about our deep attachment to the outcome: if i sit too long and think about how i want my essay to come across, i can barely squeeze a sentence out.
if i’m approaching it with whimsy– let’s just have fun with it today, anything goes– then, suddenly, we’re ten pages in and i don’t wanna stop. don’t take yourself too seriously and watch the block dissipate.
what does your notes app look like right now: chaos, poetry, or grocery lists?
all of the above and more. mostly obscure phrases i come up with in the middle of the night, at the gym, or biking through amsterdam that later get sewn into my work in one way or another.
what do you hope participants will carry with them after your workshop?
an increased bandwidth for dealing with uncertainty, first. feeling elated by new ideas, whatever they may be, second. and the custom notebook to house all those ideas, of course.
wow 02 is happening sunday, september 28th, from 17:00–19:00 at pre-reserved (tt. vasumweg 119).
come ready to scribble, word vomit, and maybe surprise yourself. wine, kombucha, snacks, and a custom notebook are on us.
tickets here.
Can’t wait to work together!
Xx, Aa
