I have just made my first post-Clarion West submission. “The Bleak December” is off. Now, the next story. And after that, the one after. Et cetera.

The process of my reintegration with my life is slow-going. I’m currently lying in bed in a motel in Redding. Last night, I was in Portland. In the morning, I’ll be heading home. I was tempted to press on further south today, but I resisted. This three-day journey is medicinal. That said, I think I…

I’m a graduate of Clarion West. Holy god, where have the six weeks gone? I have read 85 stories by 17 amazing writers, written five of my own, learned from six fantastic instructors, and thoroughly enjoyed it all. Even the scary bits. This has been a thing of wonder and awe for me, and I…

I turned in my story at about 10:20 pm on Monday, a bit later than the 9:00 o’clock I was shooting for. However, I did pretty much finish up the last line at about nine, so I’m okay with that. And yes, I realize that I’m being ridiculous since I have until 9:00 am on…

Okay, so that went so much better than I had imagined it could have gone. Yes, lots of things wrong with the story were pointed out to me. Many of these were not surprising, which is good because it says my instincts are solid. I’m just surprised–and heartened–that people found so much that worked in…

Turned in my second story last night, and it’s being read today for critique tomorrow. This time, I feel much less anxiety. I mean, this time I know it’s crap, and I know the issues that are wrong with it. But it’s very different from what I submitted last week, which I feel is like…

I have come down with the ick. So have at least a third of us, if the sniffles, sneezes, coughs, and hacking that I hear in class and around the house are any indication. It’s a bit earlier than I expected, but I think we’re blaming it on an Australian super virus. (But not really.)…

Story one was well-received, and I got some excellent critiques and suggestions for it from my classmates and Nancy Kress. Folks hit the things I knew needing fixing, and pointed out a lot of ways to work on them, and they pointed out all sorts of other things that need fixing, too, that I hadn’t…

For those of you keeping track at home, I had three stories to critique last night once I had turned in mine. I did, in fact, critique them. Very early this morning. Last night, I was sidetracked by my classmates and a bottle of gin. I’m really enjoying that part of this experience. The part…

I finished my story by my target time (9:00 pm Monday). It’s not due until 9:00 am Tuesday. It will be critiqued sometime after 9:00 am Wednesday. I turned it in about half an hour ago. Approximately 6,500 words. Six-and-a-half-thousand very mannered words, full of commas and arch speech, telling a love story. It has…