PS - you're in Bremerton Sandra?  I started a writers group that meets in Bremerton actually:

http://writers.meetup.com/966

Would love to have you join. 

Randy

Greetings all. 

Submitted my submission submissioningly last night.  Fingers firmly crossed until March, which makes the fact that I'm typing this rather impressive really.

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling a deep sense of irony that the very things about my writing that I fear may keep me from being accepted into Clarion (e.g. the lack of some indefinable POW! quality) are those things I am hoping Clarion can help me overcome or improve upon.

I too had a heck of a time picking my stories, as a result.  I was torn between a story I felt was meaningful and fresh but had minimal speculative elements and clocked at 30 pages, and a fairytale retelling (not so original or demonstrative of risk taking) that I felt well-represented my storytelling and lack of amateur mistakes.  I went with the latter because, well, I love it and it gives me a warm feeling in my heart every time I read it and think "hey, I wrote that."  Plus, it clocked in at 25 pages and I was able to include a 5 page flash fiction story I hope will balance out what I perceive as the negatives of a fairytale retelling.

Comparatively, the waiting to hear back will be the easy(er) part.  I'm used to that, as it is not so different from when you submit a story to a magazine.  The truly hard part for me will actually be to not be (how Hamlet of me) too hard on my choices, or losing faith in myself if I am rejected. But that, too, is par for the course I suppose. 

That's why I just try and not think about it, and dance with the monkeys in my head instead.

Woo-Hoo!  Dance, little monkeys, dance!

Cheers,

Randy

Well, I squeezed my application in under the early bird deadline, so now the wait begins. What is everyone else doing to pass the time?

hey sandra!

I actually knew exactly what two pieces to send because together I thought they gave a realistic impression of my range as a writer.

Until I formatted them with Courier font and went from each story being about 13-14 pages to each being 19-20 pages.  Which meant I suddenly had to decide on only one story to send.  

I picked one, finally, but boy am I nervous now.  Oh well, too late now.  Already hit the send button. Weee.

Hi, Sandra.

It was so tough for me to decide that I decided to run a poll on my blog to let the Internet decide which piece will take the second slot in my application.

http://www.hownottowrite.com/writing-workshops/help-me-with-my-2009-clar...

Either would be good, but I had to pick one because slot A was already filled with a story I just finished up.  All in good fun!

Best of luck everyone!!

- Jamie Grove

It's done.  I attached the pdf files, hit send, paid through Paypal, and it's now out of my hands.  Some virtual postman has it in his (her? its?) satchel and is dropping it off in Seattle.  And me?  I sit here in Tennessee and wait.  And wait. 

Is it March yet?

sorry that was a double post

Hi everyone,

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz checking in from The Netherlands. We went offline right after I registered on here, and just got online again a couple of days ago. I am originally from The Philippines (was born and raised there) and moved to The Netherlands in 1998. Like Sandra, I have two beautiful boys. I understand the frustrating part and the chocoholic part (trying to fight that) and have always been a word addict.

My father was a medical missionary, and we(my siblings and I) spent our childhood among the Ifugao tribe. This was during the Martial Law era when there was lots of conflict between the New People's Army and the Government Military. Since we didn't have any tv in the mountains, books were our best friends. I suppose writing was an inevitability. My sister and I used to hold hands and tell stories long after curfew.

I've had some success with my poetry and short stories, but I want to push myself more. 

Abbreviated Story of My Writing Life: I was eighteen when someone told me that Filipinos would never be able to write well enough in English to satisfy a native English speaker. I took that as a challenge. The thing is, I don't remember anymore who that person was. I wish I remembered so I could thank her for throwing down the gauntlet. If not for that challenge, I would never have worked so hard to prove her wrong. I think that's a Filipino thing: Tell us we can't and we'll work our butts off to show you that we can.

Just when I passed the TOEFL exam, I moved to a country where the majority of the population does not speak English. I guess I'm stubborn, because I decided I wanted not only to speak in Dutch, I wanted to write in Dutch too. I wrote my first Dutch poem a year ago, and it even got published <g>.

Because I believe that the best way for a writer to push himself/herself is to move beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable, I've experimented with various styles and genres. I'm not very technical, but I love all things that sound technical. Weird huh. Filipino Literature is very strongly based in realism, but our indigenous culture is rich in mythology, humor, and the fantastic. I guess, this reflects itself in my work too.

In September I joined the Villa Diodati expatriate workshop in Nice where I met some graduates from Clarion West and Clarion East. I guess this is like the next mountain I've set myself to climb.

My clarion application package is almost all done. So, I'll be sending it in soon. Yes, yes...I'm nervous and twiddling my fingers and trying not to spoil the stories by tweaking too much.

Oh, and in person, I'm not as talkative as this...so don't worry. I won't be talking everyone's ears off. *retires to a corner feeling quite red-faced and out-of-breath*

So I've already typed two replies and then both times something crazy happened and they got deleted. Hopefully this one will make it through.

HIYA!!! I'm Lola (or that's what I prefer to be called). This is technically my first year to apply to Clarion because last year I never actually got the stories and application in. It worked out for the best anyway because then I could take summer school and now I'm graduating early! Woot!!! I go to A&M but please don't judge me by my BA. I didn't have many options and I'm getting out as quickly as possible. It's definitely given me an interesting perspective being a liberal minded person in such a close minded community. 

I write fantasy but most of that stuff comes out as more suited for novel length. My short stories are freaks of nature that I have dubbed fictionalized history. lol. And my NaNoWriMo novel is chic lit. :D

Hearing how people have been discriminated against for writing spec fic really irkes me. My primary goal in life is to be a professor and campaign for the acceptance of some spec fic as worthy of the literary cannon. It's just ridiculously bigotted the way some people talk about genre fiction. Bitches. Those people really get me riled up. Did I just type riled up? Guess you know I'm from deep east texas now, damn I try my best to hide it.  However if by some act of god we all get into Clarion West next summer you'll find out. When I'm under the influence (of sleep depravation, caffience, etc...) my accent comes out really bad.

Uh I'll stop rambling now. I'm just avoiding working. I have a deadline tonight which means procrastinating it as much as possible. Btw Heather you should look into the low residency MFA program called Stonecoast through the University of Southern Maine. I'm applying for it next year and they're very open to spec fic. James Patrick Kelly and Kelly Link are some of the instructors for it. (They've also been Clarion instructors!) 

Hello Oso, Sandra and Deb!

I just stumbled across this site and the forums, and from the looks of things, we seem to be rather early in the game. Ah well.

I have lots of experience with application anxiety. It's an ugly thing to live with, but you have to remember that whatever the outcome, the world does not end. And the most important thing is that it doesn't discourage you if you don't get in. Just pick yourself up and move on. Explore other options.

I speak from the experience of applying to grad schools for creative writing last year and getting rejected from all of them. (Including my alma mater, and another school that told me fall 2008 was full, wanted to consider me first for spring 2009, and then made me wait another six months to reject me outright. Fun, huh?!)

But hey, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gone looking for other options and found CW. I think a lot of the problems with MFA creative writing programs is that I'm not writing the kind of fiction they're looking for. My writing isn't easily definable, but definitely leans toward a speculative/sci fi/urban fantasy bent. A writing professor I had in undergraduate school told me not to submit the novel she helped me work on to grad schools because they "tend to frown on fantasy." (This is the same professor, mind you, that told me she had a good feeling said novel would get published.) I hate that kind of double standard. Just because I'm blending genres and trying to say something unique doesn't mean I'm not writing good fiction. (If I'm writing poorly, I'm writing poorly, genre should not define it.) Based on what kind of fiction is getting published, stories with that sci fi/fantasy element are becoming more and more mainstream. I guess the question, especially with MFAs, is do you want to fit the definition of "good, refined writing" decided by a select group of people that probably won't ever appeal to a wider audience... or do you want to write a good story that reaches people on multiple levels? Is it possible to be both? Oh, the things that go through my head on a daily basis...

Anyone else have this kind of experience? I mean, I assume that's why SF/Fantasy/Speculative workshops like CW exist. If I'm wrong, feel free to say so. Then I'll know if applying here is a good idea or not, because I am on the prowl for programs that welcome my kind of writing, not shun it. :)

Oh, I'm Heather, by the way. Nice to meet you!

Hi Sandra.  I'm Scott.  Some of my friends call me Oso.  I'll be glad to explain that in Seattle this summer.  I'd be glad to explain anything in Seattle this summer. 

I am a high school math teacher, father of the most beautiful girl on the planet, and hope to soon be an applicant to CW.  I'm still pulling everything together.  It may be January before I get around to it. I also have a minor obsession with penguins.  (Nothing inappropriate.)

I'm scared of the possibilities that come with applying.  I'm not sure if I'm more scared of being rejected or being accepted.  I'll be a first time applicant and that's surely adding to the anxiety.  I look forward to seeing the names dribble in and get a feel for the rest of you out there that share my dream.

Oso