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While you're waiting...
Submitted by hartjen on February 11, 2008 - 6:58pm.
So, what's everybody doing for the wait? I mean, how do you deal with the tension, the anticipation, the ... everything...
I've got all this nervous energy, and this crazy need to just do something - anything - and I can't figure out what to do to make use of it. Any good suggestions?
Not accepted and rejected, not necessarily the same thing
Fellow applicants,
I too received my less than positive email on Saturday, however, REJECTED and not accepted aren't exactly the same. When you ask someone out and they tell you that they'd rather eat off the floor of a New York City taxi, that's rejected. When you compete with literally hundreds of people for a spot in a group of eighteen and don't make it, that's not accepted. Oh, and when you can come up with a reasonable BS reason for anything, that's sematics. Keep to the forums, as I will, I've enjoyed many of your personalities as I can glean from the boards and would like to hear more from everyone.
Justin
Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid!
The Wait is over
Howdy,
I've been lurking for awhile. I just got an email informing me I won't be meeting up with y'all at Clarion West this summer. :(
I guess if you haven't been notified yet, at least you can take comfort from knowing you've outlasted someone: me.
I'm still hoping for happy news from Clarion not-West.
Good luck,
Lucas
the best revenge
The best revenge for being rejected is to:
SELL YOUR SUBMISSION STORIES...
After all, they are probably nicely polished now and ready to go to the dance. Keep in mind that all rejections (whether here or to markets) are the opinion of the very *few* and it doesn't mean your work isn't good - it just didn't fit with these particular readers.
Congratulations to those attending too!!!
Mallory
I got the email today,
I got the email today, too. No fun, but better minds than I have failed more than once. Trying to take it as cheerfully as I can. Best of luck to everyone who made it, and to anyone still waiting.
Rejected but thanks!
Picked up my email this morning and got the rejection notice. One of the nicest rejections I've had in awhile too!
A big congratulations to all those folks who made it. Have fun in Seattle this summer!
Also, a big thanks to everyone at CW. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to wade through all those applications this year! You should spank Cory when he shows up for putting it on the front page of Boing Boing. Ha!
fingernails gone. Moving on to caramel rice cakes.
50 calories a piece, better than other kinds of stress eating, eh?
I wonder about sending the rejections last, or first, or whatever. I mean, the last time I got rejected I distinctly recall receiving the letter in early March. There's got to be some mysterious whoo-whoo process that we're unaware of.
Regardless, my friends are bugging me about the San Diego Comic-Con (July 24-27)-- they all plan on converging at my house from various parts of the country, but I can't make any plans either way until I Get... That... Letter.
Whatever it says.
Oddly, a recent anime I've been watching ( http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8537) and a recent museum visit (sundry statues of Vishnu) have pulled me out of the urban fantasy world I've been writing in and back into the low magic universe I dabbled in a few years back. Inspiration really does come from the strangest places, I tell you.
Don't give up hope
My suggestion is--you won't know until you receive the response. In the meantime, do what you'd do anyway. Just keep writing.
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
Just in the nick of itme.
I finished a short short (1,3000 wds) a couple days ago, just in the
nick of time.... But I wonder... Have the notifications already been
sent out to those who were accepted? I'm pretty sure the rejects are
notified last, and at this late date I can't help but wonder if the
final decisions have already been made. In any case, looking at the
screen at the finished work evoked a profound elation. But in a few
weeks I'll probably look at the very same screen and cringe as I make
an unspoken vow never to write again. But alas, a few days more will
pass, and I'll look at the story once again, and decide that it's
probably not all THAT bad, and just needs a bit of work. Which made me
come to the conclusion that I need to find a (meatspace) workshop
regardless of whether I get accepted by clarion or not. I live in New
York, literary capitol of the world, so It shouldn't be so difficult to
find one that suits me. And if I get accepted to Clarion, I'll be that
much better at critiquing, and my stories will be much stronger. And if
I don't get accepted, well... Life goes on as usual.
BTW, does anyone know of any Sci-fi/fantasy workshops in the city?
NYC meetups
Hi biscuitsauce,
I just got my rejection email, so now I will come out of lurkdom to answer your question. I work in New York City (live right outside). There are two writing groups I attend. One is for all types of writers. Info here: http://writers.meetup.com/343/about/ . It is quite well-organized, but you have to be on your toes to sign up in time before the list gets full. There is another one devoted to speculative fiction. Info here: http://scifiwriting.meetup.com/19/ . I have just been once. It is very disorganized, but might have potential. Last time I met someone there who said he was interested in getting a critiquing group going. The next meeting is April 8. I'm not sure if I will be there.
I hope you find this useful.
Very nicely done!
Applause!
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
Yeah, more than likely
Yeah, more than likely they've already decided who they want. I expect to see a rejection letter any day now. It is strange that they notify people who didn't get in LAST. You'd think the winnowing process would involve sifting out the people they didn't want FIRST and then moving on to the semi-finalists and then finalists. Is there some "special step" that's just eluding me? Hmm...
Oh well, there's always next year and the year after that and etc. I'm glad that it's hard to get in actually. It should be hard. And one positive consequence is not just that it'll be something to strive for, but also you might end up being a "virtual" Clarion grad. I mean you might apply 5, 8, 10 more times before getting in, but by then you'd have been writing Sci-Fi for 5, 8, 10 years and maybe feel like you've done your own Clarion bootcamp several times over. Isn't that why there's some people who, after trying for years and years, finally do get in, but then decide not to go?
Acceptances...
I have no way of knowing what their process is but it might be that they send approvals first and then have some kind of wait list because sometimes people who might plan to attend maybe can't afford it or have encountered some other difficulty that prevents them and I would guess they would want to give positive approvals to as many really promising writers as possible. So, if it is harrowing at the moment and if some people are sporting very short fingernails, it is probably for only the very best reasons.
Mallory
Keep in mind - fingernails grow back quickly :)
A challenge for those who are waiting
Here's a game for people who've sent in their applications and are anxious about being accepted.
Your challenge: Write a brand-new short story--and finish it before you get your answer.
The trick is, you don't know exactly when you'll hear from CW. So you don't know how long you have. It's like a ticking timer and you can't be sure how much time is left on it.
Anyone who succeeds--post here, and we'll applaud you. At least I will.
So get cracking, and good luck!
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
Flash Fiction
Great idea. I've just finished the opening to another novel. It's completely different than my submission as well:
It was her first day of teaching and already there was a gun pointed to her head—so much for not leaving any child behind. Taya would have happily left each and every one of these prepubescent miscreants behind if it meant she would live to see another day.
I've posted the first three pages on my site, but I've not gotten too far in the story yet. I'm writing the sequel to my second novel whilst trying to find representation as well.
But it was a great idea, Vylar. Put things back into perspective. Thanks!
-Pheenix
www.natashaoliver.com
Hooray!
Glad it helped you! Applause for all.
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
thanks for the challenge!
Well, I finished my story today (4,100 words). I probably have more polishing to do as the first comment I got from one of my readers was, "What? Another first chapter? How many of these are you going to write before you finish a whole book?"
Congrats!
*clap clap clap* Great job on getting a new story written! I hope it helped the time pass.
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
definitely helped the time pass
Thanks, Vylar. The unknown deadline really helped the time pass. Hopefully others are working away at their stories too!
Challenge Accepted!
Okay, Vylar, I wrote a new 5,000-word short story yesterday. Please begin applause.
-----------------------------------------
Andrew Shaffer
http://www.orderofstandrew.com
Wow!
*clap clap clap clap* That's wonderful! Great work! I hope it helped take your mind off the wait.
For bonus points, you can try revising it and submitting it somewhere.
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
What is a "Revision"?
<sarcasm> My first drafts are polished golden nuggets. Hemingway may have said that all first drafts are s#!t, but he never read any of my stuff. </sarcasm>
I usually let my first drafts simmer for a couple of weeks, and then return to them with fresh eyes. I'm not too concerned about waiting on my application response--right now I'm writing or revising one story per week, finishing my MBA degree, and working a day job, so I keep pretty busy.
-----------------------------------------
Andrew Shaffer
http://www.orderofstandrew.com
I do that too. I always
I do that too. I always need a few weeks to let the story simmer before I revise it.
If you're writing a story every week while still doing your day job and getting a degree, you're doing all the right things, whether or not you get into the workshop. Good luck!
Vylar Kaftan
CW '04, Clarion West Forum Master
http://www.vylarkaftan.net
Get Thee to a Keyboard
The submission is done and out the door. There's nothing more you can do about it. You'll get in or you won't. In the end you'll keep on writing, right?
If you get in, you're going to need all the practice you can get because you're going to write a lot.
Me? I'm working on a rewrite of an old story. I'm also on a few long posts for the sites I play with... Basically, the same thing I always do.
I've also added books by the instructors to the stack, but mainly I am writing.
Write something else. Write
Write something else. Write something completely unrelated to your submission story.
Then there's my perpetual advice about money: figure out your finances so you'll know how you're going to pay for it if you're accepted. Of course you figured all this out before you applied, particularly if you applied for a scholarship, but it doesn't hurt to work through the numbers one more time. (Can you tell that I'm a volunteer who worries about the "non" in "non-profit?)
If you want to think about something else altogether, do your taxes. Go rock climbing. Work a stint at a food bank, Do something outside your normal routine; do something where the main point is phsycial rather than mental.
I'll second that...
That sounds like some great advice, Kate! I went to the gym myself after applying today. It helped.
I probably won't get in. It's all useless. There's gonna be like certifiable geniuses applying -- guys and gals whose whole mission in life has been to study with Palahnuik or Cory Doctorow. I'm NOT one of those geniuses, a.k.a., "freaks of nature." I'm just me.
Oh well...at least I went to the gym! ;)
PS -- Do you know if the committees who judge the submission stories change every year? Is it comprised solely of the visiting writers? Or is it a combination of the writers and those who run the program?
For the Record...
Smarts aren't everything.
The point being, you are who you are, and writing isn't about how smart you are. It's largely about that bit inside you that means you have to write, and can't not. And it's a little bit about how long and seriously you work at it, and how willing you are to take corrections.
Or - that's my opinion. Obviously, I haven't made it yet!
One of the many differences
One of the many differences between Clarion West and Clarion in San Diego is that although Clarion West's submission readers include people who have taught the workshop, they never include anyone who will teach this summer, while Clarion in San Diego always has the anchor team read submissions. The administrators read everything, too, but they don't rank the stories. The reading committee changes some every year.