Home

Back to
Ramblings

To Clarion or Not to Clarion

I went to Clarion 1997. What did Clarion do for me? Basically, it helped me find that final polish, to make my work professional. Before Clarion, I was not able to sell professionally. (I sold to small press, but not to large magazines.) After Clarion, I started selling professionally.

What will Clarion do for you? Sorry, the magic ball is out of commission at this time. I can't tell you what will happen. Every class is different. the experiences within a class is different. Some of the teachers who I thought were marvelous, whom I learned a lot from, other students thought were just so-so. I felt the same way about some of the teachers they bragged about.

I can only tell you some things you can consider while you're thinking about Clarion.

I have a friend who has written five novels, is working on his sixth, and has never written a short story. I can't recommend Clarion for him with a clear conscious. Clarion focuses on short fiction, and wants you to write a story a week. My friend has never successfully written a short story. It isn't to say that as a novelist you won't get something out of Clarion. I just don't think it's as easy for novelists. Remember, your mileage may vary.

Do the teachers that year write the kind of thing you like? Or are interested in? If you do hard SF, and it seems as if all the teachers that year write fantasy or magic realism, maybe this isn't the year you should go to Clarion. On the other hand, maybe you want to expand your horizons, and you do want to work with these people. You're the only one who can judge your skills vs. these other people. Maybe the subject matter is completely different, but you love how they turn a phrase. Or structure their characters or their worlds. Something about these teachers should excite you. At least one instructor. The rest of the instructors may surprise you.

There may be one among them that you find you're in total agreement with, even though you don't appreciate their writing. The old 'do as I say not do as I do'. There will probably be another teacher in the group who will inspire you as much.

What?? Six weeks and only two teachers that you really like? Because the rest of what you'll learn, you'll learn from your fellow classmates. At least that's how I felt (though I did 'groove' with more than two teachers). The weeks where the instructors didn't work as well for me were the weeks that my fellow classmates gave me what I needed. And sometimes both the teacher and my classmates taught me.

Clarion is often called 'boot camp for writers'. It's true. It's intense. Challenging. Formative. Highly worth it for me. Not for everyone. Some people take years to recover from Clarion. Some decide to not be writers any more. You'll never know until you try.

If the instructors at Clarion West don't seem to float your boat, and this is the only year you think you'll have the time and money and will to go, then maybe you could look at that *other* Clarion, the one taught in the east. I didn't go to that one. I can't speak of the experience there. I can only say I'm biased, and I loved Clarion West, and the teachers that they tend to bring in are people that I'd be interested in learning from.

Again, your mileage may vary.

You are visitor number 1198