About 2 weeks ago I learned about the Clarion West workshop that is held every summer in Seattle, and that the deadline for applications was March 1. To be fair, I had heard of this workshop, but something about that news sparked me into action and I have spent all of my free time over the past 2 weeks (admittedly, not a lot of time, but several 1-2 hour blocks) revising and updating 4 stories and writing a personal essay. While searching for the application website later, I found the Clarion workshop. I knew there was the Clarion as well, but I didn’t know it had moved to San Diego–I thought that Clarion West had been in SD and then moved up to Seattle… anyway, it has the same application deadline and workshop dates, so just yesterday I applied to both workshops!
Clarion West wanted 20-30 pages of writing and a 700-800 word personal essay. At first I wasn’t sure I had it but it turned out that was not difficult for me to come up with, and in fact, in order to fit within 30 pages I had to only submit one of the two stories I had originally considered. I submitted one “long” story, two flash pieces, and a prologue I’ve written for a novel. Clarion wanted two 3000-6000 word stories, so I ended up sending both “long” stories there.
Now I wait.
I am really excited about this potential opportunity but also recognize that my chances of getting in are probably small. But who knows. I’ve had reviewers tell me that my writing is clear and professional, and i think my biggest problem is to stop aiming for perfection and just getting my work out there. That is certainly the case for my professional writing.
In other news, I took advantage of the editing I have done and I went and submitted a story to a magazine! So, watch this space.