Why Wooski Writes
The first of many more to come.
Essentially - an intersection of media, culture, and tech written from a socio-legal angle by a Korean-American.
1. What is this?
This is the first of potentially many posts I'll write on topics I find interesting, inspirational or motivational as to current events, career development, and pop culture based on my professional and life experiences.
I go by @WooskiWorks on social media - this was a homage I made to “DreamWorks” when I created my YouTube channel in 2012 for dance choreography videos. It would be synonymous with my brand of sort as I’d often introduce myself as Wooski (as opposed to Wooseok) in more informal, social settings.
My creative works - Wooski’s Works, if you will - came in many forms over the years: dance & music performance, social media content, and a published book.
WooskiWrites is a subset of my creativity channel in @WooskiWorks.
2. Who am I?
I’m Wooseok Ki, a corporate attorney in NYC and published author on a best-selling K-pop book. In social/casual circles I often go by Wooski, combining my first and last names.
For non-official matters, I dance occasionally to make short-form videos with my friends, network a lot with professionals in legal+tech+media spaces, and try to catch onto new social media trends.
I was fortunate to live in cities around the world (NYC, SF, Seoul, Hong Kong, Philly, DC to name a few) and have worked in legal, tech, music, and gaming industries. My experiences have broadened my outlook on social relationships and cross-cultural exchange.
For the sake of Substack posts, I will not claim to be an expert - but moreso a guide to the topics. I like researching, compiling, and breaking down complex topics for the layperson to understand. My Substack is to serve as a gateway just like my K-pop book is.
Personally, I believe that the title of “expert” should be earned and bestowed upon by others, not self-proclaimed. At this phase of my life and career, I’m happy to serve as a guide, consultant or aid until I’m there.
3. Why now?
When attending college and law school full-time, I wrote because I had to for classes. I loved reading and writing since I was young, but I was instructed to write on very specific topics in specific ways. Though in a way, I guess that led me to become a lawyer.
In 2020 - I published <K-POP: The Odyssey - Your Gateway to the Global Phenomenon> on a topic that is dear to my heart. I wrote passionately, but was also bound by a schedule and was definitely stressed at times during a lockdown. But that’s ok, we made the book happen to positive reception. Thank you, supporters!
In 2023 - for the last few years while working full-time, I’ve been writing short posts on LinkedIn, generating traction, and was inspired by a lot of knowledgable professionals out there. I’ve appeared on podcasts, done guest lectures at universities, was quoted in media outlets, and been reading a lot of books from various authors. And of course, I engaged in numerous Zoom calls and coffee chats with many interesting people from around the world.
Through these sources of inspiration I realized that ultimately, I want to continue regularly what led up to all this - WRITING.
4. What topics, exactly?
Well, starting is the hard part. I haven’t decided specifically what my end goal here is, but it’ll be fun and worth the read.
Here are some of the topics that inspire me to write:
Technology making our lives easier
K-pop & the globalization of K-content generally
Transmedia storytelling (i.e. multiverse, live-action adaptations, video games)
Legal topics in technology, media and entertainment
Asian/AAPI representation in media & pop culture
Career development, professionalism, and mentorship
Essentially - an intersection of media, culture, and tech written from a socio-legal angle by a Korean-American.
Once I get more posts going, I’ll create separate sections to sort them by topic.
And I’ll write these in a tone as if we’re having a conversation - colloquial and casual.
5. How often?
Ideally a weekly post depending on the idea and substance.
However, I don’t want to sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity, so will find an appropriate writing tempo.
To gain initial traction, all posts will be free & to the public for now. For more specific pieces down the road (possibly interviews, specific research, etc.) they will be paid subscription only but it’s up to you if you want to upgrade to the paid tier.
6. What led me here?
My favorite TA in college told me: “Wooseok, you write really, really well. (But you went over the word limit).” on a legal studies paper.
That piece of feedback stuck with me. Even when I’m feeling aimless, I take solace in the fact that writing may be the one skill that I’ll continue to have and improve over time. That’s opposed to let’s say, dancing - if TikTok/Reels were around in 2012, my life would have turned out differently. But I digress here.
I’ve been writing regularly on LinkedIn for the past few years and in turn connected with a lot of professionals worldwide that share similar interests. I realized that there’s a limit to how much I can write on a simple post, and it didn’t seem like the appropriate platform to regularly churn out longer pieces of writing.
I’ve also written for my law firm’s blog posts on video gaming, DAOs, crypto, and IP matters, but I think I’d like to keep that writing style separate.
I read somewhere on Threads urging writers to get on Substack. Threads as a platform is also quite interesting and I hope to dissect it more when it takes off further. I’ve already been following some writers on Substack that I’ve been keen on from the K-pop or culture spaces, but I don’t see many friends on here yet.
Perhaps we could change that. If my writing inspires someone to write or just learn something new, I’d be pretty content.
Also, this will serve me well for whenever my 2nd book is published.
Stay tuned and see you soon!
My DMs are always open on various social media channels @wooskiworks and the subscribe button is below.