Great. Not only am I unable to make a decision, I clearly need to lose some weight.

As you know, last year I tried and failed to get into Clarion West. Well, it’s that time again and I’m going to go for it!

Alright, to be honest, I’ve been threatened with some form of writerly violence by Caren Gussoff (CW08) if I don’t apply, so I need to get working. If you’re thinking of applying, jump on over to her site and read her advice on applying to Clarion West. Great stuff.

My Application: The Stories and the “Contest”

During the last year, I spent a lot of time here on this site telling you all about my writing life so it only makes sense that as I prepare my 2009 Clarion West application that I’d go ahead and ask all of you to help out and in the mix I’m going to give something away…

No, I’m not asking for a letter writing campaign or anything else like that. Just a simple poll to help me decide what to write. Of course, if you’d like to cheer me on in the comments I could use it. This is going to be an especially tough year for me to take off if I happen to get in.

I’ve already decided to include the latest version of “Deepest Shade”, even though it’s more of a first chapter than a story. However, Deepest Shade is only 17 pages long and you can send up to 30 pages (warning: do not exceed the limit)…

So, with 13 pages to spare I need to select between two other pieces. Luckily, I just happen to have two bits but I’m torn between them. Both are fun and engaging, and since they are written for a younger audience, I think they provide an interesting contrast to Deepest Shade.

Neither piece has gone through a final polishing, so I don’t have time to do both, post them, and get feedback from you. I need to pick one to focus on so I decided to run a poll to see which concept is more appealing.

That’s it. Just a simple poll. Help out and you just might win…

The Contest “Prize”

Ok, it seems silly to give something away when I’m just doing a poll but I’m going to give something away cause I like to do that kind of thing.

When I close the poll on 1/21/2009 at 9PM EST, I’ll pick one name at random from the list of respondents. The winner will get their choice of one of two books:

• James Wood’s How Fiction Works
• Ralph Keyes’ Courage to Write

Questions?

1. “Why these two books?” Courage to Write is the book a recommend to all writers for overcoming fear, while How Fiction Works is one of the best books on deconstructing fiction I’ve ever read.

2. “Will you buy me a different book?” No. Let’s not make this complicated, shall we?

3. “Will you post the ‘winning’ story?” Absolutely! Once it’s nice and neat I’ll put it up here. 😉

THE POLL IS CLOSED.

Thanks so much for helping out! Best of luck to everyone who’s applying this year!!!

Me! 🙂

I thought it was only fair to have a new post about not getting into Clarion West since I’ve been maintaining another post about folks who have…

Nicest Rejection Ever

I have no idea if this is the kind of rejection everyone gets, but I have to say that it is one of the nicest rejections I’ve ever received:

Thank you for applying to the Clarion West Writers Workshop for 2008.

We are sorry to let you know that you were not selected for this year’s class. We had a record number of applicants, and because the workshop can hold only eighteen students we could not find room for all of the promising writers. We realize this is a disappointment, but hope you will apply to Clarion West again in the future, as your work ranked well with our readers.

We wish you the best with your writing and hope you have a productive summer.

Thank you again for your interest in Clarion West.

A big thank you to all of readers and administrators. I can’t even begin to imagine what you went through this year to wade through the massive pile of applications. When Cory shows up, you might want to spank him for posting the deadline on Boing Boing. 🙂

What to do next

I’d by lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed. Of course I am, as is everyone else who didn’t make it. That’s part of game, folks.

So, take a moment to light a candle for your glorious summer plans and then get back to your keyboard. There are more stories to write.

Oh, and you probably spent a lot of time getting your stories ready for the submission, right? Why not submit them for actual publication? After all, they’re already formatted and such. Print and mail, print and mail.

That’s what I did last week.

Back on January 30th, I wrote a long post about being terrified of Clarion West and workshops in general. The post was designed to get the fear out of my system and make me push forward.

I guess it worked, because I’ve tossed my hat into the ring. My application to Clarion West went out yesterday.

To celebrate, I thought I’d do a quick roundup of some others who are putting their work out there and trying to get in. Best of luck to everyone!!!

CKL
Sarah King
Jim Stewart
Tatterdamelion