So…I’ve decided to come clean. I’ve been bubbling over with excitement for the last month and a half, excitement I’ve had to suppress in order to keep on writing and moving day-to-day. A friend finally convinced me to blog about this, despite its open-ended nature. What is the cause of said giddiness? I’ve applied to the Clarion 2012 Workshops! There, I’ve said it. And it still feels pretty amazing.
If you don’t know, Clarion and Clarion West are six-week intensive, residential writing workshops for genre fiction (SF, fantasy and horror) that have been compared to boot camps for writers, or like getting an MFA in genre fiction in 6 short weeks, or like…many other insane ideas.
Who in their right mind would want to do this, you ask? Apparently, many silly fools (like me) who want to kick up their commitment to writing, who want to ramp up their understanding of the craft, studying with masters in the field. Each workshop only takes 12-18 students, and I read somewhere that last year one of them had approx. 200 applicants! Yes, that’s right, you have to apply (and pay to apply) in order to be evaluated. They accept you, not the other way around.
No, I haven’t heard anything from either one yet, other than that my applications have been received. And, well, that’s the part that has me dancing on my toes! Will I be accepted? If so, by which one? Which set of instructors will I quiver before as I submit works for critique each week? Or, will I be gently declined this year, like so many others, and have to swallow my hopes and fears and try again next year?
Oh, the waiting is killing me. It feels like I’m walking through a swamp filled with quicksand. Will the next step bring safe shores, or a sudden sinking sensation? And is that panic because I’ve been rejected, or accepted?
Well, despite the flutterings in my stomach, I’m writing. Fellow applicants, I hope you are, too. Let me know if any of you have applied, and how you’re faring. We’ll all get through this, no matter our individual outcomes. If not this time, maybe next year. To borrow a movie’s title, one I firmly believe, Hope Floats!
Everyday Magic | M. E. Garber 
Good luck!
I’ve just gotten early acceptance to the Odyssey Writing Workshop. I’m so excited, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself until June. Since I have two more stories that have to be ready before I go, I suppose I’ll be writing!
Congrats!! That’s awesome news. I suggest giving yourself a full day to hug yourself while grinning idiotically and giggling…THEN getting on to the writing! After all, it will be a lot of work, and you’re entitled to enjoy your moment of glory. BTW, how did you get the news: phone or email? And if by phone, did you shriek? Or squeak?
I got the news last Wednesday, via email. The email showed up in my inbox and then sat there for a good amount of time while I stared at it, afraid to open it. But, I finally did, and then I did spend a significant amount of time hugging myself, and dancing, and yelling. I really thought I didn’t have much of a chance to get in and especially not to get in with an early acceptance. After all, who am I? Just another person who enjoys writing. I’ve already sent in the first tuition payment two weeks early just so it’ll make it harder for them to change their minds.
Now, a week later, the next wave of doubt is hitting. My newest fear is that I only had the one good story in me and everything from now on will be crap! Ah, the insecurities!
Hello! You don’t know me, and I found your blog through google, but I also applied this year 🙂 – my name is Kia, and I’m from Western Australia! Nice to er…e-meet you! 🙂
Hi Kia! I’m hoping we _both_ make it, now! Did you apply to Clarion West, too?