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What is Clarion?
May. 12th, 2007 09:42 pmIf this is going to be a Clarion blog, then I suppose I should start with a description of what Clarion is.
It's a 6-week writing workshop for science fiction and fantasy. It's a lot of reading, critiquing, and writing with fellow writers. The instructors are science fiction and fantasy writers and editors and if you don't know their names, they are names you really should know. It takes place every summer. This is the first year it's going to be held in San Diego, so it's exciting to be part of that.
You can find the Clarion website here.
Clarion West is a different workshop operating on the same principles with slightly different dates. Though at this point, maybe they should rename it to Clarion North, since it's in Seattle. There's also Clarion South for those who are closer to Australia.
The application asked where I first heard about Clarion and I honestly couldn't say. I'd heard about it years and years ago. I'd been considering applying for years too. Nearly did it last year, but laziness, procrastination, or something meant I didn't do it in time. I knew I'd be disappointed in myself if I didn't at least apply this year. It was an accomplishment to apply. Though that didn't make the waiting to hear any easier.
If you're thinking about applying for next year, then read up on it, check out some blogs, and I also highly recommend the book Storyteller by Kate Wilhelm. It talks about Clarion, some of its history and some of the things learned by the workshoppers and the instructors. When you're done deciding, then apply. At the very least it'll make you finish two short stories.
Some people apply to Clarion and Clarion West at the same time, and even Odyssey (a workshop in New Hampshire). Since the deadlines are all right together, this is pretty much how you have to do it if you want to ensure yourself a place in some workshop. There's application fees though, so really consider if you want to do this or not. I only applied to Clarion.
Well, that's the basics. I could probably come up with more to say, but this blog entry is plenty long enough. Got a thought or question about Clarion? Then leave a comment!
It's a 6-week writing workshop for science fiction and fantasy. It's a lot of reading, critiquing, and writing with fellow writers. The instructors are science fiction and fantasy writers and editors and if you don't know their names, they are names you really should know. It takes place every summer. This is the first year it's going to be held in San Diego, so it's exciting to be part of that.
You can find the Clarion website here.
Clarion West is a different workshop operating on the same principles with slightly different dates. Though at this point, maybe they should rename it to Clarion North, since it's in Seattle. There's also Clarion South for those who are closer to Australia.
The application asked where I first heard about Clarion and I honestly couldn't say. I'd heard about it years and years ago. I'd been considering applying for years too. Nearly did it last year, but laziness, procrastination, or something meant I didn't do it in time. I knew I'd be disappointed in myself if I didn't at least apply this year. It was an accomplishment to apply. Though that didn't make the waiting to hear any easier.
If you're thinking about applying for next year, then read up on it, check out some blogs, and I also highly recommend the book Storyteller by Kate Wilhelm. It talks about Clarion, some of its history and some of the things learned by the workshoppers and the instructors. When you're done deciding, then apply. At the very least it'll make you finish two short stories.
Some people apply to Clarion and Clarion West at the same time, and even Odyssey (a workshop in New Hampshire). Since the deadlines are all right together, this is pretty much how you have to do it if you want to ensure yourself a place in some workshop. There's application fees though, so really consider if you want to do this or not. I only applied to Clarion.
Well, that's the basics. I could probably come up with more to say, but this blog entry is plenty long enough. Got a thought or question about Clarion? Then leave a comment!
