On Writing Workshops and Spontaneous Writing
So recently I found out that Neil Gaiman is going to be at the Clarion Workshop this year! I’m a wee bit of a fangirl, so I am really excited to hear about this! (Oh and if you’ve never read Neil’s journal, for shame on you! For shame!) I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to go to the workshop, though. The application deadline is March 1. That poses a bit of a chronology issue for me.
Part of the application requirements are two short stories. I have several shorts laying around, but all are still in their first draft form. It’s going to require me to revise. And we all know how well I revise! :p Anyway, what it really comes down to is whether or not I’ll be able to get two shorts revised in time for the deadline or not, since I have to have my novel completely revised by April 10. How much money do I have to pay to get about 5 more useable hours out of each day?
Moreover, I think I’m a little bit intimidated. My understanding is that there’s a lot of spontaneous writing expected. I can’t recall if it’s Clarion or Odyssey which requires a new story every day (I think it’s Odyssey). But either way, I don’t do that sort of writing very well. Given ten minutes in a writing class to write a few paragraphs about whatever–my brain freezes up and I just look at the page. I’ve never been good at that sort of writing.
I’m still going to see if I can get a couple stories polished, even though that aspect does scare the writerly doodoo out of me. I’m already in debt up to my eyeballs from grad school. What’s another $4k, right?
I’m a little snarky about the cost, I know, but Clarion is one of the best short story workshops out there for genre writers. A few of my fellow students at SHU are former Clarion students and they can’t say enough about it. So I’m intrigued about going. I really do believe in the usefulness of programs like these. I know the writers in my master’s program who’ve gone through Clarion are already phenomenal writers, even before SHU gets to them!
Any other graduates of Clarion or Odyssey out there? What was your experience?
Cliff Burns said,
January 31, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I’ve posted about the relative uselessness of writing classes–see “Writing 101–and, again, I have to wonder, why exactly are you going to spend money on a workshop that might be better devoted to, say, helping out a homeless person or saving a whale or two? Will the experience make you that much better a writer…or is it more the social networking and getting to hob-nob with authors who, if they had a lick of honesty, would tell you to go home and fer Chrissake WRITE and not waste money listening to their endlessly recited anecdotes? Be clear in your own mind because most of the people I know who go to these things come away disillusioned…and a whole lot poorer…
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Gabriel Gadfly said,
February 13, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I’d love to go to a workshop with Neil Gaiman. I’d quite possibly giddy myself into extinction. I’ve never really had a problem with writing spontaneously. Sometimes I write best when someone sits me down and says, “You, write something, now.” I guess it keeps me from overthinking my words.