Yeah, I know, I put it in my LiveJournal too. But I’m excited!
I applied to Clarion East and Clarion West. Yesterday I got an email from East–I’m in! So I shot an email to the folks at Clarion West, and today they tell me I’m in there, too!
I guess I’ve got to pick one, huh.
I’m very excited! I’ve been sending out stories and getting rejections back, which I know is a neccessary part of the process and all, but it still gets you down after a while. It’s nice to have a positive result. And I get to go to Clarion!!! Woohoo!
I’ve never posted in MPSIMS before but I’m breaking my rule for this.
I went to Clarion a while back. As in: There was only one continent at the time a while back.
It was the most exciting and intellectually stimulating six weeks of my life. I did not learn how to write sf there - that would take another 20 years - but I learned that’s what I wanted to do with my life. Even though I only write a couple of stories a year, my image of myself is still that of a science fiction writer with everything else secondary.
I’d say that Clarion West has a slightly better lineup of writers this year than East does, but that’s probably just my biases and familiarity with the people talking.
You will have a great time no matter which one you go to. Wear the t-shirt proudly.
Mr P keeps saying he might apply to Clarion South and I keep telling him that there is NO way he’s going to be 20 minutes down the road for six weeks while I solo parent. 'Cause I’m mean and stuff.
Here’s hoping for good learning and good writing and excellent networking leading to a contract and all that good stuff.
That is so wonderful. I’m happy for you. Please keep some kind of journal while you’re there, so you can remember everything, and maybe share some stuff with us when you’re back.
Hey, thanks, all! I’m still excited! I’m trying really hard not to pack my things [i/]now*.
Exapno, my couple of friends who have been to one or the other of the Clarions say similar things, that it was amazing and one of the best things they’ve done for their writing. I think I’m leaning towards West at the moment, partly because of who’s there and partly because I’ve been to Michigan, but I’ve never been to Seattle. I don’t want to take too long to make up my mind, because I figure some lucky soul is going to get my place wherever I’m not going, and the sooner they know that the happier that person will be.
Mr. Cameron is being very, very nice about the whole thing. We discussed this back in January, and talked about how if I made it in, he’d be six weeks in the summer with the kids, and just grandmas for help. We talked to my mom, and his mom, and his sister-in-law, since his neice is just this year old enough to babysit and has taken a Red Cross babysitting course and all, and the consensus was that we could make it work, especially if we got the kids signed up to some day-camp things to help caretakers for at least part of the day. Now we’re waiting to hear about Paidhi Girl’s girl scout camp schedule, and the neice’s assignment for the equestrian unit at the same camp, and then schedule other activities and Mr. Cameron’s vacation. Everyone will probably be very glad to see me get back.
I should keep a journal–that’s a good idea, Lynn.
Primaflora, how many kids/how old? You guys have school then, don’t you? Or is Clarion South scheduled in your summer? If he’s only twenty minutes down the road, that might not be so bad.
Ooooooh Seattle looks good! I’m not as impressed by the calibre of the tutors at Clarion South though.
Bren my guys are 7 and 11 but they’re both on the autistic spectrum so 6 weeks alone with them is no small ask. When we asked if it were mandatory to live in, we were told it wasn’t but there was no reduction in cost. There’s also the financial aspect of it. It’s not cheap and the Australian science fiction market isn’t exactly buzzing. Mr P’s at a point in his career that I’m not sure that it would do much to help him sell books. The US Clarions to me seem more likely to lead to contracts – they’ve got editors there for a start which Clarion South tends not to. Can’t figure if they have any this year. But apart from Jack Dann, I can’t think of any editors who focus on science fiction in the Australian market… well there’s the zine people but they hardly pay. I’m feeling hardnosed about professional development leading to more money lately.
They’re good markets if you want to be published or you are just starting out but if you’re looking to make actual money, they’re small-paying markets. For building up a resume for publishers, they’re a good starting point. But once an author’s mid-career, the rewards are just not there.
Anyway this is drifting away from saying Yay! Clarion acceptance!
Octavia Butler AND Connie Willis? I feel a swoon coming on. And there’s READINGS, too. Take a tape recorder/camcorder if such things are allowed. Have fun!
Interesting. I keep seeing what appears to be a large number of Australian zines and thought that the market there was good.
Of course, the number of professional-level U.S. magazines is ridiculously small as well. Mid-career you have to write novels.
But this isn’t that far off the subject. The question for the OP is what she intends to do after Clarion. Does she want to become a professional? Does she understand how awful the market is? Is she ready for rejection? Or the dread Clarion syndrome (being so aware of one’s faults that one can’t write at all?) Getting accepted is one thing. Planning for afterward is another. I was way too young to understand this, and it held me back for a long time.
Each Clarion will have one major editor. F&SF’s Gordon van Gelder at West; SciFiction’s Ellen Datlow at South; and a Guest editor at East. And having an editor at Clarion doesn’t mean all that much. Harlan Ellison bought some stories for The Last Dangerous Visions at my Clarion, and look how that turned out!
There’s lots of Australian zines. There’s also a lot of insularity and plain sheer bloody nastiness. The most needlessly vicious rejection Mr P ever received was from a zine that was a non-paying market. It was written by someone who has never sold a book in their entire life. The story had previously won a prize in a science fiction contest so it wasn’t so appallingly bad that the vicious criticism was justified. I asked around after that and found out that he was far from the only person who was getting that kind of crap feedback from zines that were run by volunteer non-professional editors. And I need to say that after 17 years as a published author, we’re well accustomed to rejections so it wasn’t a matter of sour grapes.
A career path is a good idea. A very good idea. Would I be right in assuming that one of the benefits of Clarion is the networking? And another question? Do the US Clarions also focus on short stories or can you work on a novel? That’s an aspect I dislike about Clarion South.
Congratulations! I really want to have a go at Clarion also, after I’m out of grad school. As for which one is “better,” I’d probably go to the one which features more authors you like. The lecturers change every year and they usually post their names on the site. Good luck!
(Sorry to post so soon but I didn’t see this post, or it wasn’t here, or something.) Yes, the networking is a big part of it, Clarion writers helping each other out after graduation. Actually, that’s a big part of any writing program. The focus is on short stories, which is why I’m waiting until I graduate to go–I’m working on a thesis novel for my writing program, and don’t want to abandon it for six weeks. I can see why the focus is on short stories–workshop participants wouldn’t have the time to read 20+ novels and provide feedback on all of them. I think (though I could be mistaken) that you are supposed to bring a short story with you, but that you’re also supposed to work on one while you’re there. I haven’t done much research into the actual amount of stories since I won’t be applying until 2006, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.
No, it’s not far off the topic at all. I do want to become a professional, and yeah, the market seems pretty awful. My first few rejections, since I’ve been seriously sending stuff out, were pretty hard, but lately I say, “Well, that’s one more,” and throw it in a folder. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t bother me at all, of course. But if I want to sell something, I’ve got to send stuff out, and rejections are an unavoidable part of that. I’ve never gotten a nasty rejection, though–I’ve only gotten form letters. ( I’m hoping to move up from JJA’s “didn’t grab me” to “didn’t hold my interest” one of these days! ) I did get one non-form letter note from an editor a month or so ago, and it completely made my week, because it was actually very nice. A friend of mine who doesn’t write didn’t understand why it pleased me so much, because after all, the story didn’t sell. Well, it didn’t, but still.
I’m hoping that I’ve learned how to go ahead and write even when I’m convinced I completely suck, but I’ve found that just because I think I’ve conquered something doesn’t mean I actually have.
I don’t have much of a coherent plan for afterwards–keep writing, I guess. But it’s true that the network is one of the things I’m hoping to get out of it.
Clarion East is a short-story only workshop, and when you apply you have to submit two short stories. Clarion West wanted thirty pages of writing–either one or more complete short stories, or the beginning of a novel plus a synopsis, with the synopsis counting in your thirty page limit. I started out on this venture with a NaNoWriMo novel and lots of false starts at short stories. I spent a while working on that first novel, and then the first draft of the second, but this past year I’ve been working more on short things and getting better at them, or so I think, as I go along, so I had a couple to choose from to send in with the applications. They’ve all, of course, been rejected by every editor who’s seen them so far. sigh
Prima, I submitted one time to ASIM, and even though they didn’t buy my story, I kind of liked the way they ran things. They strip your name off your submission and give it to a round of slushreaders, and when they sent me my rejection they sent me some of the readers’ notes, which was nice. I had no complaints about the notes–though some of them were very complimentary, one or two were negative, but I really thought the negative comments had valid points. They don’t pay much, it’s true, but still, I’ll submit to them again.
(And I can see that it would be hard for your husband to be gone six weeks–heck, my two are hard enough without any autism. And it sounds like he’s doing pretty well without Clarion. )
continuity eror, a friend of mine who was at CW a couple of years ago told me that the first week they critted submission stories. By the end of the week people were bringing in new stuff, but each instructor is different in how they handle the class and assignments and such so she wasn’t going to say that we’d be writing x number of stories. I figure I’ll be writing and reading like mad. I can’t think of too many better ways to spend six weeks. Good luck when you apply!
It wasn’t ASIM. IIRC the only dealings with them were pleasant. I do like it when you get readers notes which are constructive with valid points.
Getting non-form rejections is a Good Thing! Non-form acceptances are even nicer though.
The six week thing is a dealbreaker. The way I feel this afternoon is that if I have to spend 6 more minutes with my 7 yo I am going to run away screaming. ::sigh:: Maybe if Mr P’s script sells to the Hollywood producer who is supposedly reading it at present I can go and spend 6 weeks in a spa all by myself.
