Wednesday, June 23rd, 1999

Finally got my Ethernet connection, so now I'm officially online. Before this, I had to use the computers of other Clarion students to put up these journal entries, which is why you have not seen anything from me in a week. However, I do have notes written on the days I've missed, so I should be posting those entries later this week.

Thanks to all of those who have e-mailed me so far about this journal. Your advice and encouragement has helped me get through my first few difficult weeks here. I had no idea that I had so many fans!

I Finish My First Story Here!

At approximately 2:00 AM this morning, I finished my first draft of "Run of the Fiery Horse," the first story I wrote here. The story may be awful, but it's done. My writing speed is so glacial, I was afraid that I would finish my first story in the last week of the workshop. Some of the other students are on their third or fourth new stories now. While I tell myself that everyone is different, I find it difficult to avoid comparisons here.

My main problem? I'm a perfectionist. I like to spend months on a story getting all the phrases and details just right. Here at Clarion though, I have adopted a new strategy. Bypass the research, I can do it later. Bypass the rewrites, I can do them later. Turn off the internal editor. Instead, I churn out a rough draft as soon as I can, fix the major plot problems in the first draft, and then turn in my flawed story so that it can get shredded in the critiquing session. The feedback that we get here is high quality, even if it is painful at times. Tomorrow I will face my critique, hug my stuffed elephant, and take copious notes.

Our First Clarion Prank

Our current instructor, Michaela Roessner, is an alumna of Clarion. She has regaled us with anecdotes of previous Clarions, and has complained repeatedly that we have not performed any pranks yet. So today, I payed a visit to the special collections department of the library here and viewed the stories that she wrote twenty years ago while at Clarion, and photocopied one of them for our critiquing session on Friday. Heh, heh, heh...

Pregnancy Update

After steadily losing weight my first week here (I dropped down to my pre-pregnancy weight, not a good thing when you are beginning the second trimester) I am pleased to note that I have gained back half a pound! I have become an eating machine in a desperate attempt just to maintain my weight.

Somedays, it seems like I am stuffing my face all the time. I eat a snack when I get up. Then I eat breakfast. Then I eat during the breaks in our morning critiquing session. Then lunch. Then a piece of fruit on the way to swimming, and another piece of fruit on the way back. Midway through the afternoon, another snack. Dinner. More snacks. This is ridiculous. How much food does one four-inch fetus need?

Hmm