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Clarion West

Here’s to 2010–and to all of You!

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2010 was an amazing year for me both personally and professionally.

If you’ve been following my blog, you probably already know what some of the highs were, so rather than recounting them, I thought I’d take a moment instead to say “thank you.”

Thank you to my family and in particular my wife Carol whose love and support have buoyed me through the good times and bad…

Thank you to old friends for their lasting friendship and good cheer when I needed the boost..

Thank you to new friends (including those of you on Twitter I have not yet met in person) who have graciously welcomed me into their tribes…

Thank you to my fellow classmates from the Clarion West Workshop–you are continuing sources of encouragement and inspiration, and I’m glad to be on the journey with you…

Thank you to my instructors and mentors from Clarion West–I am still learning from your mighty examples…

Thank you to other mentors in the Writing World for their words of wisdom–those I have met and those I have yet to meet…

…and finally, Thank you to everyone who reads my blog or follows my Tweets. I’m grateful to be in conversation with all of you.

May your 2011 be fantastic. So far, mine’s shaping up pretty nicely. Stay tuned!

Your Story is Your Story

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I was neck-deep in revisions on the latest WIP when one of my beta readers said to me, “You know, this reminds me a little of another story I read.” I was then beset by apocalyptic visions of two months of work wasted, and a dawning realization that I’d read the story he’d mentioned, too. It made me intensely uncomfortable to think I may have inadvertently lifted anything and doubly worse to feel like maybe I didn’t have anything unique to add to any of those conceits.

I spent a few days moping, I’ll admit.

Then some friends and mentors shook me out of my stupor. Your voice is unique, they said. Even with similar conceits, your characters and your plot will be different. This is something I heard again and again at Clarion West: Don’t compare yourself to other writers. Write what moves you, no matter what anyone else is doing. Only you can tell that story, and you have a responsibility, an obligation to tell it.

So I stopped moping, opened up the laptop again and got back to work. Now I’m not saying that you should rip off someone else’s story (and I certainly don’t think I have), but you also shouldn’t let your fear of “not having something new to say” stop you from writing.

Maureen McHugh, one of my awesome Clarion West instructors put it this way: “If you write like yourself, you will write like no one else, and that’s enough.”

Words to live by.

Unintended Benefits of Clarion West: No. 37 in a Series*

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*(actually the first in a series, but there will be more.)

I expected to go to Clarion West and whip my writing into shape. I also expected that my body would surely suffer from lack of sleep, the endless hours of slaving away at an overheating laptop, my body sustained by poor choices of sustenance such as Fritos, moon pies and ice cream.**

As it turns out, I lost about 8lbs at Clarion West, and it wasn’t due to stress, either. I didn’t have a car in Seattle, so most of the time I walked wherever it was I needed to go:  the coffee shops to write, to fantastic Korean hot-pot shops to slurp noodles, to the zoo (with a little help from the bus)…

I probably walked 2-3 miles a day and sometimes more. It made a big difference to my mood, my stamina, and general well-being. I’ve found that since I’ve gotten back to L.A. (“Nobody walks in L.A!”) that I’ve been restless without those daily walks.  I’m going to the gym 3-4 times a week, but it just isn’t quite the same.  Pushing for more active weekends helps.

My diet has changed a bit, too. I’m eating a lot less meat now–something I’ve been trying to do for awhile. Some of my fellow Clarionites were definitely an influence — when you share meals you learn to enjoy what other folks love.

When I posted a couple of weeks ago that Clarion West changed my life, I wasn’t just talking about the writing and the great new friends. This is the best I’ve felt in a long time, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep feeling this way.


**many gallons of ice cream were consumed at Clarion West. You have been warned, future workshop attendees.

Six Things I learned at Clarion West

Some of you may stumble upon my blog looking for tidbits about what to expect from the Clarion West experience. Maybe you’re thinking about applying (you should) or maybe you’ve just learned you got in (yay!)–but either way, you’re dying to know what happens on the inside.

Here, then, is a small peek into the mysterious inner workings of the workshop.

  1.  Apply steady pressure and it’ll be okay.
  2.  The Zombie Apocalypse is survivable. 
  3.  Fear nothing, especially spiders. 
  4.  Always wear a life jacket. There be sirens on the reef. 
  5.  The only thing creepier than one doll’s head is eighteen of them.
  6.  All things in moderation. Especially sleep. Especially during Week 6.

Your experience may vary, of course.

Clarion West: There and Back Again

I’m back.

Six Weeks. At least 21,000 words written, and close to half a million words read (~100 stories). Six great instructors, and seventeen other very talented writers. Plus two wonderful administrators, at least ten guest speakers, a great cook, numerous gracious volunteers and supporters.
Uncountable great conversations with like-minded souls, too many plates of delicious food eaten (ooo fried cheese curds). Vats of ice-cream consumed, at least a few beers and glasses of wine and whiskey.  Many miles walked around Seattle (and paddled upon Lake Union).

Many, many new friends and some I now think of as “family.” 

And–
Well, here’s the thing. My first response is to try and boil down the Clarion West experience to all these quantifiable things so that I can more easily explain it to people. But the six weeks I spent in Seattle defy easy explanation.
I hope in the coming weeks and months on this blog to talk a little about what the workshop meant to me–but I’m honestly still too busy processing the experience right now to form a coherent summary of everything I learned during the most life-changing of all the summer vacations I’ve ever had. 
For now, all I can say is: If you’re an aspiring writer who feels they are just on the verge of a professional career, but you feel like you need something to boost you to the next level–consider applying for one of the Clarion workshops.

It will change your life, too. 

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