Revisiting Past Decisions

About ten years ago I applied to Clarion West, the infamous SF/F writer's bootcamp that has launched hundreds of genre writers' careers and torn others apart so badly that... well... anyway. I got a favorable response, but as part of the response they asked if I really was going to be a professional writer. There's a very limited number of spots at Clarion West; and at that time I was in the midst of, pretty much, the probable acquisition of a startup.

While I could have taken the six weeks off, software jobs were flexible like that back then, I didn't really want to and I had things to do in the computer world, first. Plus, back then, I was scared to death of the kinds of feedback that people were getting.

So I wrote back saying, no, I probably wasn't going to be a professional any time soon, so the spot probably should go to someone else. And it did.

But now... it's tempting again. Especially since all those earlier constraints are gone. Applications are opening up just about now for the 2009 session in August. If I plan for it now, it'll be fun and interesting. So I created an account there. I'm putting together a plan for the tuition. Plus... I'm starting to *get* what I can really get out of constructive criticism from someone that knows what they're talking about. Before I used to be too scared of someone "changing my deathless prose" now, it's just another craft and I could *learn* a lot from other people.

I'll cheerfully blame nosferatu_blue for her description of her disappointing creative writing class for reminding me of exactly what kind of "creative writing class" I really want to get into.

[Edited to add: Wow, the San Diego version's teachers sound like they're much more up my alley, though... and my family lives down there... ]

Revisiting Past Decisions

About ten years ago I applied to Clarion West, the infamous SF/F writer's bootcamp that has launched hundreds of genre writers' careers and torn others apart so badly that... well... anyway. I got a favorable response, but as part of the response they asked if I really was going to be a professional writer. There's a very limited number of spots at Clarion West; and at that time I was in the midst of, pretty much, the probable acquisition of a startup.

While I could have taken the six weeks off, software jobs were flexible like that back then, I didn't really want to and I had things to do in the computer world, first. Plus, back then, I was scared to death of the kinds of feedback that people were getting.

So I wrote back saying, no, I probably wasn't going to be a professional any time soon, so the spot probably should go to someone else. And it did.

But now... it's tempting again. Especially since all those earlier constraints are gone. Applications are opening up just about now for the 2009 session in August. If I plan for it now, it'll be fun and interesting. So I created an account there. I'm putting together a plan for the tuition. Plus... I'm starting to *get* what I can really get out of constructive criticism from someone that knows what they're talking about. Before I used to be too scared of someone "changing my deathless prose" now, it's just another craft and I could *learn* a lot from other people.

I'll cheerfully blame nosferatu_blue for her description of her disappointing creative writing class for reminding me of exactly what kind of "creative writing class" I really want to get into.

[Edited to add: Wow, the San Diego version's teachers sound like they're much more up my alley, though... and my family lives down there... ]

Fic Rec

I don't recommend fic very often... okay... at all... I probably should more often. Sometimes I do when people ask me what I like reading, but I wanted to rec a Byakuya/Ichigo fic written by zangetsugirl and not just because it has a really, really great Ukitake in it, but 'cause she really got the two main characters solidly in my book. And because I really loved the flow of it...

( I guess I should write down at least my staple fanfic authors. )

Fic Rec

I don't recommend fic very often... okay... at all... I probably should more often. Sometimes I do when people ask me what I like reading, but I wanted to rec a Byakuya/Ichigo fic written by zangetsugirl and not just because it has a really, really great Ukitake in it, but 'cause she really got the two main characters solidly in my book. And because I really loved the flow of it...

( I guess I should write down at least my staple fanfic authors. )

How Cool.

I've been kind of worried about archiving my LJ for a while... not really worried, but... just in case kind of knowing that I should do it sometime. I have eight years' worth of stuff on here... and it bothers me to not have ONE backup in case something happened, but nothing, up to this point, did the comments as well as the entries.

So... amberley pointed me at ljbook.

Well, it seemed to work... *sighs* It only lets you do three, and doesn't say that to start... so I may well go with tgryn's suggestion of doing using ljarchive, if I can get it to work...

How Cool.

I've been kind of worried about archiving my LJ for a while... not really worried, but... just in case kind of knowing that I should do it sometime. I have eight years' worth of stuff on here... and it bothers me to not have ONE backup in case something happened, but nothing, up to this point, did the comments as well as the entries.

So... amberley pointed me at ljbook.

Well, it seemed to work... *sighs* It only lets you do three, and doesn't say that to start... so I may well go with tgryn's suggestion of doing using ljarchive, if I can get it to work...