The Paris Residences of James Joyce

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: I’M FREE FLOATING – Blog # 20

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: I’M FREE FLOATING – Blog # 20.

I’m free floating – freeing my mind from the usual, the expected, the certain in story writing. I’m learning from Anaximander – he’s the Greek scientist who wrote about Earth free floating in space. I can learn a lot from him.

I was reading Carlo Rovelli’s 2023 book, Anaximander and the Nature of Science, which is full of scientific insights that can be usefully applied to the arts.

The insights of Anaximander, who saw the Earth as a stone floating in space without falling, led the world in cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology, and biology. Before him, people thought the world was flat.

Twenty-six centuries ago, in Miletus, a Greek city – now in Turkey – Anaximander (610-546 BC) was possibly the first philosopher to have documented his scientific studies. He wrote a treatise called On Nature that is long lost.

Even though writing had been around for 3,000 years, scientific studies were not well documented. And mathematics was in its infancy too. Certainly, in Anaximander’s time, people were adding, subtracting, and multiplying, but not a lot of dividing. Yes, division, the most difficult of the basic operations of arithmetic, was only in the form of dividing “by two, three, four, and five, but not by seven” in Anaximander’s days. A fifth grader nowadays knows more than a celebrated mathematician of yore. I’m being ambitiously optimistic though – I know grown men of today that cringe at having to use division! One that I know says he was absent on the day division was taught in school and has never been able to catch up. He can know now that division wasn’t only difficult for him, but for many – and the last of all operations to be used fully, and expertly.

But Anaximander, the great …

But Anaximander, the great experimenter, the unknown, under-estimated, under-rated, misunderstood scientist, is making a big comeback in the science scene. Specifically for embracing uncertainty and seeking knowledge to progress to a more certain world view. He was pre-Darwin (1809-1882), pre-Newton (1642-1726), pre-Socrates even, who died in 399 BC.

Carlo Rovelli says of Anaximander’s studies in uncertainty: “Lack of certainty is anything but weakness. Instead, it constitutes – and has always constituted – the very strength of rational thinking, understood as curiosity, rebellion, and change. It is precisely by not taking its answers as definitive that science can continue to improve them … recognizing errors and looking further and further ahead.”

Anaximander opened doors – scientific doors – in the 6^th century, and the doors to nature, as embraced in Rovelli’s book. More specifically, Anaximander said that animals evolved. In doing so, he also opened the doors to conflicting views, and indeed, to conflict and controversy in the scientific world. Two profoundly different views of nature clashed headlong into a cerebral and verbal stoush: religion vs the new world view.

Despite the criticism, Anaximander continued to write. With his new mode of rational and critical thinking, open to infinite possibilities in the rebellious quest for scientific knowledge, he re-imagined the world, not once, nor twice …

Anaximander’s writing alone, is an invitation, an inspiration, to be open to infinite possibilities in the rebellious quest for self-knowledge – in a Parisian world of boulevards and cafés frequented by authors and creatives. Remember the heady world of Paris in the 1920s? And the lyrics of Aaron Brown’s 2020 song Back to Black & White? It begins:

Red lips take a sip

Martini with a twist

Sting me with a kiss

The song is about nostalgia, it’s about ballroom dancing like 1922, and the dancing rooms of American bars in Paris in the 20s and 30s. Jazz … Louis Armstrong … La Coupole the Bar Americain … flapper dresses free floating. The song continues:

I’m alive and electric

With you, with you

Your dress loveliness

Free and floating

While we spin and move

While Louis sets the mood

With you

I can see us dancin’

Ballroom romancin’ like 1922

I’m having breakfast now at La Coupole, with the dancing rooms underground, and the ambiance is right for Anaximander’s melting pot of science, nature, and culture … to be open to infinite possibilities in the rebellious quest, any rebellious quest for a timely word, a poignant phrase, even an entire book!

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Photographer: Martina Nicolls

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George Orwell is Down and Out in Paris

George Orwell is Down and Out in Paris (and London).

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (1933) is a semi-biographical account of a British author struggling to live and work in Paris and London in 1929.

A blank page … a Parisian breakfast

A blank page … a Parisian breakfast.

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: BRAIN BANK – Blog # 19

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: BRAIN BANK – Blog # 19.

What do I write when I can’t think of anything to write? What’s next in my in-progress Paris book?

That’s when a notebook comes in handy. As I think of ideas, I write them in my notebook – fragments of sentences, a delicious word, a thought, a sight I’ve seen, part of a conversation spoken …

The notebook is my brain bank. It’s a stock of new ideas – some will be used, some will be modified, some will be tested, and some will be discarded. The problem is to keep the brain bank well-stocked with “near-term opportunities” for “cognitive flexibility” in times of writer’s block or the “what’s next?” moment.

Nothing is out of bounds in my brain bank. The rule is not to rule anything out. I generate lots of possible creative directions. I try to aim for snippets that might eventuate as something “stupidly simple yet profoundly true.”

It starts with small ideas, then a set or series of small ideas. Then I push the ideas further. I get to a point, in some stage of editing, of distilling the essence of the strongest idea and deciding what to try first, then second, then next.

The notebook – the brain bank – is not a journal, but I journal too. Journaling also helps me to meditate or mull over ideas; to take half-baked ideas to full-baked ones. However, even full-baked ones might be discarded during the editing process.

Ideas are about potential. A potential idea that needs more thought. Perhaps the idea is too vague and needs specifics. Perhaps the idea is too broad and needs to be fenced it – to have constraints and restrictions so that it doesn’t become a runaway train of thought. Perhaps the idea is too utterly ridiculous or too out-of-the-box – but perhaps not.

In the end, the “what’s next?” is to identify distinctive, memorable ideas that become so compelling that they HAVE to be in the book.

I often use the Edward DeBono method of lateral thinking for sorting ideas. One method that Edward DeBono (1933-2021), author of the 1985 book Six Thinking Hats, used was the “Plus, Minus, and Interesting” sorting system – the PMI. But I’ve recently discovered another method.

Here’s a suggestion for how to rank ideas to find the gold in the brain bank. It’s called the Pip Decks SICFAM ranking. The idea is prioritized by scoring an idea against six criteria – ruthlessly! It works best for ranking multiple ideas though. Each idea is scored 1-5 on each of the SICFAM criteria.

Simple: how easily could you describe the idea to a child?

Interesting: how likely is it that you’d discuss the idea at a party?

Coherent: how true does the idea feel to your identity & vision?

Feasible: how easily can you do it?

Audience-appropriate: how user-friendly is it, so that people will embrace it?

Memorable: how likely will people remember it in 30 years?

Not all of the criteria apply to ideas to include in a book, but they do help to sort out the most useful ideas from the others – the wheat from the chaff – the gold from the brain bank.

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Photographer: Martina Nicolls

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French Resistance – photography exhibition

French Resistance – photography exhibition.

The photography exhibition, “The National Council of the Resistance” – the French Resistance – on the railings of the Town Hall of the 14^th arrondissement of Paris, from 17 May to 1 June 2024, addresses the theme of the Occupation and the beginnings of the Resistance in 1944.

Elsewhere in France – photography exhibition

Elsewhere in France – photography exhibition.

“Elsewhere in France” is a photography exhibition on the railings, or grills, of the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden) in Paris. A collective of photographers from the Only France agency created the photographs which are on display from 16 March until 14 July 2024.

Each photograph tells the story of the location in France that was photographed, compared with its similar landscape somewhere else across the globe.

The comparisons from the photographers’ eyes include the following: Colorado, USA, is seen in the Pyrenees; Kathmandu, Nepal, is seen in the Alps; the Great Barrier Reef of Australia in Corsica; and Tuscany, Italy, in Bordeaux, for example.

Brancusi’s drawing of James Joyce

Brancusi’s drawing of James Joyce.

The Centre Pompidou in Paris is hosting the exhibition “Brancusi, Art is just beginning” – from 27 March to 1 July 2024 – of almost 400 of Constantin Brancusi’s works.

Romanian-born artist Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) arrived in Paris in 1904 at the age of 28, where he remained until his death at 81. He left his entire collection and studio to the French State on the condition that his studio would be rebuilt exactly as it was on the day of his death. His studio, temporarily closed for the exhibition, is reconstructed in the large hall of the Centre Pompidou.

Constantin Brancusi drew several depictions of Irish author James Joyce – line drawings, paintings, portraits, and full body.

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: THUNK IT THROUGH – Blog # 18

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: THUNK IT THROUGH – Blog # 18.

My in-progress Paris book needs a shake-up. Who would have thunk it? The idiom, usually said in jest, means to express surprise at something that is not in the least surprising, says the Cambridge Dictionary. So, what’s so surprising about that? Nothing, of course, except that, in creative writing workshops (and other places too), to thunk something is to brainstorm an idea, but in a specific way.

To thunk, the verb, means to use flexible thinking to question ideas – to push the boundaries of conventional thought – to challenge the belief that answers or thoughts are binary; that they are either right or wrong.

Thunk is also a noun. It’s like a thought or an idea, such as choosing a thunk to shake-up ideas in my Paris book in the process of writing it.

Here’s what I mean:

Thunk ideas to debate:

Thunk: If the main character does X, a day after Brexit is enforced, is she breaking the law (French law, British law, European Union law, any law)?

Thunk: Can the main character leave France and enter Australia in March 2020 without breaking a pandemic regulation or law?

Thunk: Is the pandemic travel surveillance and scientific information the same as George Orwell’s 1949 book 1984?

Thunk: Would life be better under a libertine government during a global disaster?

Thunk: Do people know the difference between libertarianism and libertinism?

Thunk: Do two simultaneous unprecedented events necessitate unprecedented actions?

Thunking Task:

Aim: To facilitate new ways of thinking by examining yes/no creative challenges (note: there may not be a “correct” way to respond).

For each thunk, do the following tasks:

Find someone willing to argue the “yes” case for 10 minutes.

Find someone willing to argue the “no” case for 10 minutes.

If you are doing the thunking task in a group, take a vote to determine which case the group found to be more convincing or more persuasive.

The thunking exercise is designed for writers to gain flexible, innovative, unconventional, or even opinionated views, unlike their own, to push the boundaries of thought.

During the writing of my Paris book, I could thunk and thunk and thunk for a long time, constantly debating thunking ideas with others until I’m all thunked out. Who would have thunk it?

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Photographer: Martina Nicolls

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NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: DO I NEED A MENTOR? – Blog # 17

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: DO I NEED A MENTOR – Blog # 17.

Do I need a character archetype of the Mentor in my book? As keynote speaker J. Loren Norris said: “If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.” But I ask, who was a foreigner locked down in Paris simultaneously during a pandemic and Brexit before me? Sure, there were people experiencing this at the same time, and a mentor could be anyone offering me advice, yes? Or someone with similar life experiences? Let me ponder this.

Poet Samuel Taylor said:

“Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon you, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”

But The Supremes lead singer Diana Ross said:

“You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.”

Which books have I read with a character archetype of the Mentor? For me, this archetype has not only advice, but wisdom, and serves as a guiding light for the main character. The mentor is not necessarily in the spotlight but is a principal guide and support to enable the main character to overcome obstacles and perhaps provide social, emotional, financial, or other support to help them stay strong in tough times.

The mentor does not provide definitive answers, but knowledgeable, experienced suggestions – options for the way forward. The mentor has “been around the block” or “been through hell and back” or “been there and done that.” The mentor has much experience, coupled with patience, because a Hero’s journey can take a long time with many twists and turns.

Mitch Albom’s 1997 memoir Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life’s Greatest Lesson surely fits the ticket about the giving and receiving advice. However, it’s not such a good fit in my context because the mentor is Albom’s university professor aged and dying Morrie Schwartz.

And because I live in France, what about The Count of Monte Cristo written in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas? Protagonist 19-year-old Edmond Dantès is in prison for a crime he has not committed, betrayed by jealous men, and he becomes determined to escape. His mentor is Abbé Faria, an Italian sage and priest, also imprisoned, who reveals knowledge about a hoard of treasure on the Isle of Monte Cristo. The novel is too revengeful for my contextual purposes, but nevertheless, it is, as author Vadim Nikolayev says “a megapolyphonic novel” – i.e., a novel of diverse, independent, simultaneous points of view and voices, in which conclusion are not foreordained and nothing truly comes to an end.

Unique times in history call for unique perspectives.

A book on my high school reading list was the 1927 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. Apart from this half-man half-wolf Faustian story (in which Georg Faust is successful but dissatisfied in life, at a crossroad, making a pact with the Devil to exchange his soul for unlimited knowledge and pleasure), Steppenwolf inspires hope for the hopeless. Of relevance in recent tough times, Steppenwolf is about a disaffected generation, losing faith in humanity, on the cusp of radical change but conflicted and out of touch with reality. The protagonist Harry Haller is trapped and isolated, intensely lonely with an imagined female mentor leading him to a means of escape and a road to hope.

I love Steppenwolf for my Paris book context because, as author Kurt Vonnegut said about the novel: it is “the most profound book about homesickness ever written” – and the main character in my Paris book has pangs of homesickness.

Hermann Hesse Source: Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989

As for Paris, and gaining lessons in life, American diplomat and philosopher Thomas Jefferson said:

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.”

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Photographer: Martina Nicolls

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NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: FRIENDS AND ALLIES – Blog # 16

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: FRIENDS AND ALLIES – Blog # 16.

In my previous blog about my upcoming Paris book, I wrote about the dark side. But, in addition to dark characters, heroes have friends and allies. Or at least one ‘right hand’ person – their ‘ride or die’ – the one that is extremely loyal to the hero, the main character of the novel.

What is the role of the friend and ally? Their role is more than a companion, more than a trusted buddy, and more than a ‘yes’ person. Their role often involves the giving of wanted and un-asked-for advice – appropriate, or maybe even not so appropriate. In any case, the friend often holds the storyline together.

This doesn’t mean that the role of the friend is simple, requiring a straight-forward character. No! The friend can be quite complex, although it is absolutely critical that the friend has two essential characteristics: unfailing loyalty and extreme reliability – always there for the hero whenever trouble arises. Perhaps!

Throw into the mix the essential characteristics of strength and a mood-lightening sense of humour in tough times.

Or as Octavia E. Butler said,

“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny.”