Advice to Clarion Attendees
This is aimed at Clarion Diego, but most of it is probably relevant to Clarion West and Clarion South and possibly other intensive writing workshops as well.
Before Clarion
* Tell your friends and family you'll be incommunicado. I found that some of them didn't really get it even after I tried to impress it upon them. This means telephone, Email, online chat, Skype, popping out to a restaurant if you're local. If you desperately want time to spend with friends or family during Clarion, you're going to have to plan it in advance, and be willing to give up something for it. One suggestion is to give everyone the address to a blog (it doesn't have to be your main blog) and promise to post updates now and then. Even if it's just 'Alive. Writing. See you in August.' Then you just have to post one thing for everyone to feel they've had some contact with you. And they can leave as many comments as they want.
* Pack less than you think you need, especially if you're flying. San Diego has stores. The CVS is pretty convenient. If you find you need snacks, drinks, toiletries, beach supplies, you can get them there. I actually bought the notebook and pens I used at Clarion right there at the CVS. Do you want to lug three or four pairs of shoes back home with you, or would you rather pack one or no pair of shoes and a whole lot of signed books? You're going to be going home with books, and you'll also probably want to go home with copies of people's comments on your stories. All that stuff starts to get heavy. And with airlines charging for all checked bags.. ugh. Though keep in mind you can mail a box of things home if you find you've acquired too much.
* Read at least one thing by all your instructors. Most of you are probably frantically trying to do that already. If you can find a paperback anthology with several instructors' stories in it, that's a good book to read on the plane.
* If you're planning to do work or schoolwork during Clarion, rethink that plan! Especially if it involves reading and writing. You'll burn yourself out, or not give as much energy to Clarion as you'll wish you had later. Are you even going to have the same job in 5 years? Which is more important to you? And it's summer for crying out loud, take the summer off from schoolwork!
* If you want to see anything in San Diego, or take a trip to Mexico, as I rather wanted to do, then plan your trip so you have a couple days before or after Clarion to do it. I hear the zoo is an all-day thing, and certainly if you wanted to do Mexico right, that'd be a day trip as well.
* Bring a laptop. You can get one that'll work for writing for around 400-500$. Or ask around with friends and family to see if they've got one they'll lend you. Doesn't need to be new or state of the art. Just needs to be functional. Test out the keyboard though. You'll want a decent keyboard.
At Clarion
* Unless you're really sick, attend every workshop session. Try not to be late, but if you are late, it's better than never. I would advocate going even if you haven't read the stories to be discussed that day. You'll probably still learn a thing or two. And maybe admitting you haven't read the stories will guilt you into not making it a habit. And I really mean this bullet point. Don't choose to skip the session so you can write. Don't skip it so you can sleep. Be there. Tell yourself you can go back to writing or sleeping in a few hours.
* Spend quality time with your classmates and instructors. By 'quality time', I mean time where you can talk. Going out to the movies was fun, but don't make it a habit, as it's 2 hours when you're not writing, reading, sleeping, or talking. Quality time can be one-on-one, a small subgroup, or the entire group. As long as you're talking. And it can be about anything. It's as much about bonding as it is about learning. These are your colleagues and potential friends. Do it at a restaurant, do it on the beach, do it in a dorm room, wherever.
* Try to write a story a week. Don't kill yourself though. Every other week can still work pretty well. Do get one out early, one out in the middle, and one out near the end though. You'll get the perspective of different instructors and your classmates will have a chance to tell you when you're repeating yourself, or when you've grown. I finished 3 stories for critique plus one other for a special project. I had been aiming for 6 and I still would've liked to have done 6. I just don't know if I could have.
* Read every story up for critique. Read it at least once. Ideally, you'd be reading it twice and writing copious notes, but at the minimum, read it before the workshop session. But if it's interfering with writing your 3-6 stories, then figure out a way to spend less time on it. Write fewer notes, read faster, take them with you to lunch, something.
* Meals can be skipped. Unless you have a health condition in which they can't! Have snacks or oatmeal on hand if you get hungry, have someone bring food back for you, or decide you'll always go to lunch. If you're going to skip a meal, I'd skip breakfast personally. Fewer people will be at breakfast and you're likely to be rushed. Which ties back to the quality time thing. Meals are great for talking. Multitasking! I felt like I was paying for the meal plan, so I should take full advantage of it, but eventually I started skipping breakfast most days. In favor of sleep.
* Get some sleep. Your brain can't function if you don't, and sleep deprivation is not good for the immune system. Getting sick will definitely impact your writing and reading time. So sleep, people! I tended to take a nap after lunch.
* Attend as many of the available discussions as you can. You wouldn't want to be the only person who didn't get to talk with the editor, would you?
* Attend the readings. You'll learn from them. And it's the perfect time to get some books signed.
As you may have discerned, Clarion is all about priorities and balance. You can't attend everything and read everything and write six stories and hang out on the beach and eat and sleep and in general, not die.
What I'm saying is that everything I've listed above is important. Do your best to incorporate everything in there, but how much and when is down to the individual. Don't be afraid to readjust throughout. Don't settle into a habit that's not working for you.
Here's some bonus items.
* Take notes. You may decide you don't have the time and energy for long blog posts, but you'll probably want notes of some sort. I never regretted taking notes. Just wish I'd taken more! Take notes at discussions, at workshop sessions, at meetings with the instructors, in a free moment when you want to write down everything you've done or seen or heard or thought about...
* Take pictures. This Clarion will only happen once.
If you've got questions, feel free to drop a comment. I know some of my classmates read this lj from time to time as well, so probably a few of us will chime in with an answer.
Before Clarion
* Tell your friends and family you'll be incommunicado. I found that some of them didn't really get it even after I tried to impress it upon them. This means telephone, Email, online chat, Skype, popping out to a restaurant if you're local. If you desperately want time to spend with friends or family during Clarion, you're going to have to plan it in advance, and be willing to give up something for it. One suggestion is to give everyone the address to a blog (it doesn't have to be your main blog) and promise to post updates now and then. Even if it's just 'Alive. Writing. See you in August.' Then you just have to post one thing for everyone to feel they've had some contact with you. And they can leave as many comments as they want.
* Pack less than you think you need, especially if you're flying. San Diego has stores. The CVS is pretty convenient. If you find you need snacks, drinks, toiletries, beach supplies, you can get them there. I actually bought the notebook and pens I used at Clarion right there at the CVS. Do you want to lug three or four pairs of shoes back home with you, or would you rather pack one or no pair of shoes and a whole lot of signed books? You're going to be going home with books, and you'll also probably want to go home with copies of people's comments on your stories. All that stuff starts to get heavy. And with airlines charging for all checked bags.. ugh. Though keep in mind you can mail a box of things home if you find you've acquired too much.
* Read at least one thing by all your instructors. Most of you are probably frantically trying to do that already. If you can find a paperback anthology with several instructors' stories in it, that's a good book to read on the plane.
* If you're planning to do work or schoolwork during Clarion, rethink that plan! Especially if it involves reading and writing. You'll burn yourself out, or not give as much energy to Clarion as you'll wish you had later. Are you even going to have the same job in 5 years? Which is more important to you? And it's summer for crying out loud, take the summer off from schoolwork!
* If you want to see anything in San Diego, or take a trip to Mexico, as I rather wanted to do, then plan your trip so you have a couple days before or after Clarion to do it. I hear the zoo is an all-day thing, and certainly if you wanted to do Mexico right, that'd be a day trip as well.
* Bring a laptop. You can get one that'll work for writing for around 400-500$. Or ask around with friends and family to see if they've got one they'll lend you. Doesn't need to be new or state of the art. Just needs to be functional. Test out the keyboard though. You'll want a decent keyboard.
At Clarion
* Unless you're really sick, attend every workshop session. Try not to be late, but if you are late, it's better than never. I would advocate going even if you haven't read the stories to be discussed that day. You'll probably still learn a thing or two. And maybe admitting you haven't read the stories will guilt you into not making it a habit. And I really mean this bullet point. Don't choose to skip the session so you can write. Don't skip it so you can sleep. Be there. Tell yourself you can go back to writing or sleeping in a few hours.
* Spend quality time with your classmates and instructors. By 'quality time', I mean time where you can talk. Going out to the movies was fun, but don't make it a habit, as it's 2 hours when you're not writing, reading, sleeping, or talking. Quality time can be one-on-one, a small subgroup, or the entire group. As long as you're talking. And it can be about anything. It's as much about bonding as it is about learning. These are your colleagues and potential friends. Do it at a restaurant, do it on the beach, do it in a dorm room, wherever.
* Try to write a story a week. Don't kill yourself though. Every other week can still work pretty well. Do get one out early, one out in the middle, and one out near the end though. You'll get the perspective of different instructors and your classmates will have a chance to tell you when you're repeating yourself, or when you've grown. I finished 3 stories for critique plus one other for a special project. I had been aiming for 6 and I still would've liked to have done 6. I just don't know if I could have.
* Read every story up for critique. Read it at least once. Ideally, you'd be reading it twice and writing copious notes, but at the minimum, read it before the workshop session. But if it's interfering with writing your 3-6 stories, then figure out a way to spend less time on it. Write fewer notes, read faster, take them with you to lunch, something.
* Meals can be skipped. Unless you have a health condition in which they can't! Have snacks or oatmeal on hand if you get hungry, have someone bring food back for you, or decide you'll always go to lunch. If you're going to skip a meal, I'd skip breakfast personally. Fewer people will be at breakfast and you're likely to be rushed. Which ties back to the quality time thing. Meals are great for talking. Multitasking! I felt like I was paying for the meal plan, so I should take full advantage of it, but eventually I started skipping breakfast most days. In favor of sleep.
* Get some sleep. Your brain can't function if you don't, and sleep deprivation is not good for the immune system. Getting sick will definitely impact your writing and reading time. So sleep, people! I tended to take a nap after lunch.
* Attend as many of the available discussions as you can. You wouldn't want to be the only person who didn't get to talk with the editor, would you?
* Attend the readings. You'll learn from them. And it's the perfect time to get some books signed.
As you may have discerned, Clarion is all about priorities and balance. You can't attend everything and read everything and write six stories and hang out on the beach and eat and sleep and in general, not die.
What I'm saying is that everything I've listed above is important. Do your best to incorporate everything in there, but how much and when is down to the individual. Don't be afraid to readjust throughout. Don't settle into a habit that's not working for you.
Here's some bonus items.
* Take notes. You may decide you don't have the time and energy for long blog posts, but you'll probably want notes of some sort. I never regretted taking notes. Just wish I'd taken more! Take notes at discussions, at workshop sessions, at meetings with the instructors, in a free moment when you want to write down everything you've done or seen or heard or thought about...
* Take pictures. This Clarion will only happen once.
If you've got questions, feel free to drop a comment. I know some of my classmates read this lj from time to time as well, so probably a few of us will chime in with an answer.