Move out is tomorrow. I'll pack up my collection of too-much stuff and drive back to my parents' house, where I'll be living for the time being.
The last six weeks have been brain-meltingly fantastic. I can't remember the last time I was so sleep deprived and simultaneously caffeinated, but neither can I remember a time have ever worked harder in my life. (The only possible exception would be during Latin on the second go-round. I wanted to learn it then.) My sense of constructing a story has grown to an unbelievable degree.
I don't think I was expecting quite such extreme growth. I've learned more about writing in six weeks than I did in the last four years (at a hugely successful and innovative university-level writing program). It wouldn't have happened--or at least been so dramatic--if everyone who'd gotten in wasn't an incredible writer. One woman's story (that was written while here), she got it critiqued, went home, revised it in two days, sent it off, and within the week Strange Horizons had emailed her saying they'd be pleased to publish it. To my knowledge no one else has sent stories out, but I know in my bones that there are at minimum several more stories from these people that will be published in the not-so-distant future. Everyone in this program is an incredible writer.
All this to say: if you're a speculative fiction writer, apply to Clarion. If you're worried about the price, apply for a scholarship. The return is incredible. Clarion is worth whatever you put into it and more.
