Conventions
Kathryn Heyman – Emerging Writers Festival, 7 Enviable Lines
Friday, June 19th, 2009 | Conventions | 2 Comments
Kathryn Heyman was the last Ambassador to speak, novelist and with a very sharp mind. After her speech I chatted to her over coffee and she was very thought provoking. In addition to her writing she teaches workshops and occasional mentoring. From my brief and fascinating encounter with her I would not recommend her for a shy author still finding their voice… perhaps because I think it’s important to write that self indulgent poetry without fear when finding your voice (which is very different to expecting that work to be published).
Once you’ve found your voice and are prepared to be properly challenged and made uncomfortable she’s fascinating, fearless, intelligent, will ask you hard questions and won’t let you wimp out on the answers. I can see why she’s very picky about who she mentors. After and while I was speaking to her I went through a rainbow of emotions… and then went back to the hotel and made the script stronger.
David Milroy – Emerging Writers Festival, 7 Enviable Lines
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | Conventions | No Comments
If Ambassador Milroy has a website I can’t find it, but google David Milroy and you will find his name attached to a range of really interesting and well regarded projects. He’s a musician, writer, playwright, artistic director, he’s won Deadly Awards and he has a really nice presence. I found him to be a really down to earth interesting guy with that rare combination of thoughtful plus active plus playful mind. His key points were:
Rachel Hills – Emerging Writers Festival, 7 Enviable Lines
Sunday, June 7th, 2009 | Conventions | No Comments
Rachel Hills was the third Ambassador to speak at the Emerging Writers Festival. Rachel’s a widely published journalist and editor. She’s also an awesome blogger (with many of her articles available to view) and posts interesting tweets linking to interesting articles. I wish I was half as retweetable as her. I was excited to finally meet her, having met her virtually years and years ago when she was working on a story about labiaplasty (now that’s a long story).
Rachel has in her fabulous blogging way put up a transcript of her full talk, you may find it interesting to see the difference between what I distilled and what she said. The distillery says:
Luke Devenish – Emerging Writers Festival, 7 Enviable Lines
Saturday, June 6th, 2009 | Conventions | No Comments
Five skilled wordsmiths, each providing seven gems of knowledge at the Emerging Writers Festival. Luke Devenish was the second to speak. Ambassador Devenish witty, charming and, as is appropriate for a screenplay writer, does good punchy dialogue. He’s a novelist, coming from the land of TV and the stage. He also teaches for AFTRS and has got me seriously considering going back to school. He too has a website. Here’s my paraphrasing of his enviable lines.
- I wish somebody had told me not to believe my own PR. Don’t get a hyped up, bloated ego head.
- I wish somebody had told me the importance of doing more than clever dialogue. To start with I was just a dialogue monkey (ed: Luke didn’t say monkey, Liz just likes to say monkey). Good story takes you to the next level and writing for TV forces you to be a story machine.
- I wish somebody had told me the real deal about agents – you don’t need to have them to get published.
- I wish somebody had told me to keep my gorram mouth open. You must learn how to talk about your work and promote your work. It is a skill you can learn and get better at with practice.
- It pays to be multi-skilled
- It is impossible to have a career without spelling and punctuation
- There is no shame in the lowest common denominator. Next to my computer I have two words SEX and DEATH.
- Just do it
Tomorrow, Ambassador Rachel Hills.
Pooja Mittal – Emerging Writers Festival 7 Enviable Lines
Friday, June 5th, 2009 | Conventions | No Comments
Five skilled wordsmiths, each providing seven gems of knowledge. That’s how the Town Hall program at the Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) is kicked off. The Ambassador Program at the Emerging Writers Festival (or #ewf on twitter) quite simply rocks. The Ambassador’s role is to be available, be ready to have their head picked, brain meats fossicked and have curly questions thrown at them. It sets a wonderful atmosphere of availability and open conversation for the rest of the festival. I hope other writers festivals go for this kind of thing. It’s a wonderful, wonderful program.
Ambassador Pooja Mittal, poet and geek girl was the first to speak and share the seven things that she learned/wished people had told her. Pooja has a lovely fresh voice, crisp intelligent language and a blog. Here are my imperfect notes and interpretations:
- There is no Ivory Tower. Find community, it will help you create, it is important
- All criticisms are constructive. If it’s true and hurts it’s because they’ve found you out. If it has absolutely no grain of truth (and make sure you look)… well then it isn’t a crit.
- Conserve your syllables – it’s a useful tool to help you show not tell. Make sure every sound serves a function and has elegance.
- A writer’s block is just a block in the road, it is no the end of the road. Fallow fields, dry seasons allow the soil to rest.
- Inspiration doesn’t strike, it surrounds
- Change is natural, don’t pigeonhole yourself. Explore different media and different forms. Most creators create in more than one way.
- Give no excuses for your writing – don’t explain what you’re trying to do. Do.
Tomorrow I’ll post Ambassador Luke Devenish’s lines (novelist and highly experienced screenplay writer).
Comikaze this weekend – 24 hour comics challenge
Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | Conventions | No Comments
Make comics. Make comics fast. Make comics with good company (virtual or there may be physical outposts in your area). Make comics with people encouraging you every step of the way, with inspiring artwork and stories popping up around you and people laughing, going mad with sugar rushes, not sleeping or having a nice nap.
Make a comic over 8 pages and be eligible for prizes (people’s choice, probably only Aussie residents for prizes).
Make a comic 24 pages or over and be eligible for a Nintendo Wii Console plus 3 games (Judge’s choice).
Make comics this Queens Birthday long weekend.
Going off previous years there will be people participating that have never made comics before and there will be seasoned veterans…. I won’t be making comics, I get to look at them later as one of the judges and I can tell you now everyone who gives it a go is awesome, rockin’ and has my admiration.
Go to the Comicaze Website , register, participate and have an amazing time.
Message ends.
5am Melbourne – After the Emerging Writers Festival
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 | Conventions, News update | No Comments
The Emerging Writers Festival is over. I had a rocking good time. Met some lovely people. Had the brain juices stimulated, challenged, soothed and had some of my wackier ideas encouraged! Beware.
As always, I didn’t attend most of the panels I intended to go to. Instead I wandered from interesting thing to interesting thing and like a jellyfish followed the currents that found me. There were times when I was juiced up on the best drug of all (ideas), mind and mouth rambling and brain sparking off in all directions from good company.
There were some times when I was asked some really hard questions about my own work, discovered some deep emotions and subtext to my graphic novel script that I had never realised. I felt confused, sad, struggling, lost and around my own writing – going back to my hotel with a laptop full of mud… And built a bridge, got over it and wrote important words. There is still some difficult work to be done (and dusted before Clarion), but I’ve made an important breakthrough… now I just have to hold on to it.
If I do something with 10% of the ideas I’ve had at the festival it shall be a good year. I got up at 5am this morning, with three articles bubbling in my head. Dragging myself up before the morning light I ignored those concepts completely and wrote a comic script instead. I thought it would be a good fun fluff piece (if slightly disturbing) for Tango’s new anthology Love and War. But as I wrote it, dammit, I realised it had a deep and meaningful subtext directly relevant to the theme of the anthology. Ben Hutchings would be the perfect artist for it if he’s available and willing. The working title of the comic? Love and Spandex.
Little liz – the accident prone years
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | clarion, News update | No Comments
… no the accident prone years would mean just about any year. I am writing this with a strapped finger after getting a deep slash in my finger while examining suitcases.
I wrote up this anecdote to share with my Co-Clarionaters, we’re getting to know each other and Mr
The scene. Midnight, an eight year old Liz is cutting up a chocolate syrup bottle with stanley knife (box cutter). The plastic is really hard and I am tired and impatient and get careless. The stanley knife suddenly swishes really smoothly through plastic and over one of my fingers.
There’s a lot of blood. Everyone is sleeping and I know I shouldn’t be up and I don’t want to bother anyone and I don’t want to get into trouble so I stifle any kind of sound and try to apply first aid.
My parents, woken by random sounds and movements late at night find a bathroom with blood splats and a messy pile of bandaids that keep floating off.
My parents say “What’s going on?” with some urgency.
I hide my hand behind my back and say “nothing” convinced I am going to be in the biggest trouble ever for being so stupid with a knife.
I don’t get into trouble at all and am whisked off to hospital where I get a tetanus shot, many local anesthetic injections and get two stitches. I watch with fascination as the thread passes through my flesh and somewhere in the back of my head I’m thinking “Wow this will make a great story.”
I’m particularly pleased that I will remember this as I’m still cross that I don’t remember breaking my leg when I was three ’cause that was really cool and my leg bent at a funny angle. It’s very unfair I don’t remember breaking my leg especially because my brother says that when you break a limb it heals to be stronger and so my chances of ever having a broken leg again have been reduced by 50%.
I get a day off school to recover and I traumatise my little sister for years and years with slow graphic descriptions of watching needle and thread go through flesh.
Even at eight everything was material to observe and absorb to use for later and my technique for any kind of trauma or scary thing is “this will be useful material”.
Wonderful scholarship news
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 | clarion | 5 Comments
I just got some great news from the good people at Clarion. I have received some scholarship support from the following organisations/groups/foundations:
- Walter and Marjorie Farrell Scholarship
- The Farrell Scholarship in Honor of Tina Spell
- IBM
- Clarion Foundation and UCSD Knight/Wilhelm Endowed scholarships
You can find out more about the scholarships on the Clarion Sponsorship page.
I feel honoured that they’ve deemed me worthy. Excuse me while I do a happy dance.
I feel so fortunate, going to Clarion is a scary financial commitment, especially on the variable wages of a freelancer. Since my acceptance the Australian dollar has rallied and improved, saving me a considerable amount of money. I have sold my car for a good price and earlier than I thought (saving money on servicing and insurance, not to mention parking and petrol as I have no choice but to walk, bus or car pool). I have got several chunky projects that have also helped to bring in the dollars as well as give me amazing life experiences and see more of Australia before leaving my homeland.
The life of a freelancer can be financially precarious and as a person of relatively modest spending (or at least no regular expensive habits) one of the psychologically difficult things about shifting to a freelancer has been the struggle to save money. I discovered how much of my self esteem is tied into being able to put a little away each fortnight and being able to pay off debt quickly. Now the struggle is more epic, clawing ahead, then taken out by unexpected bills and the grind of a morgage, a quiet spell or some surgery. The joy of money and the sorrow of payments more profound, it reminds me of being a uni student.
The scholarships do not pay for all of my tuition, but it makes such a difference. I can feel my mind expanding, knowing that I have more savings to cushion me during the ups and downs of a freelancers life. A few more dollars to support my ongoing creative development and the scary adventure of living in a new country.
I am filled with gratitude.
Clarion blogs, journals, articles and interviews
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | clarion | 32 Comments
Last updated 16 May 2011
An organically growing collection of blog posts, journals and interviews by people who have attended Clarion. To be included the posts must be specifically about the Clarion experience.
There are some additional links at the bottom for general Clarion stuff (including The Clarion Foundation’s new blog).
The list is updated about once a month. If you add a comment with links and it does not appear within a day please e-mail me, it may have set off the spam filter.
You may wish to begin at the beginning, get cozy with Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop written by Clarion co-founder Kate Wilhelm. I love learning through examples, stories and anecdotes. I must sit down with it again, very practical, very lovely… and, this time round, a little nostalgic.
Direct links to journal entries (or tagged collections of entries)
NEW Caroline M. Yoachim – Clarion West 2006
NEW Maura McHugh – Clarion West 2006
- Maura’s posts tagged Clarion – go back a few pages if you want to read stuff written in the moment (though often reflections afterwards have interesting digestions).
Excerpts from Story Teller at Small Beer Press
5 Things I Learned at Clarion/Clarion West
- Andy Romine writes a full journal entry for each thing he learned.
- Part 1 - Grá Linnaea, Jim Kelly, Ken Schneyer, Megan Kurashige, Paul M Berger
- Part 2 – Adam Israel, Damien Walter, Dana Huber,Ferrett Steinmetz, Kat Howard, Liz Argall, Stefani Nellen, Tim Pratt
- Part 3 – Collin Piprell, Edd Vick, John Walters,Nicole Taylor, Philip Brewer, Sue Burke
- Part 4 – Emily Jiang, Matt London, Monica Byrne
Tiffani Angus – Clarion 2009
- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 6
- And a general Clarion tag, for pre-Clarion and post-Clarion briefings
Frank Ard – Clarion West 2010
- Interview from University of South Alabama – warning, it is a facebook link
Liz Argall – Clarion 2009
- Congratulations and advice to the Class of 2010
- Post Clarion and moving to the USA reflections – We do it because it is hard
Mishell Baker – Clarion 2009
- Fantasy Magazine article on pregnantly preparing for Clarion
Lee Batersby hosts guest blogs and other juicy Clarion things – Clarion South 2009
- Clarion tagged thingies on Lee Battersby’s Blog
Gregory Norman Bossert – Clarion 2010
Alessio Bresciani – Clarion South
Keyan Bowes – Clarion 2007
- Keyan Bowes has created a lovely index page chronicling her Clarion experiences
Philip Brewer – Clarion 2001
- Launchpad for journals, essays (including one on the costs) and linkage love for the class of ’01
- What if you can’t go to Clarion? How to be your own writer’s workshop
Michael A. Burstein – Clarion 1994
John Chu – Clarion 2010
Aidan Doyle – Clarion South
The Ferret – Clarion
- Collected Journal entries about Clarion (updated to a new and improved launchpad 1 April 09, thanks Mr Ferret)
Eugene Fisher – Clarion 2008
- Advice for those who didn’t get in, congratulations to the Class of 2009, reflections and links to Kathleen Howard‘s Clarion survival advice
Neile Graham – Clarion West 1996
Gavin J Grant – Clarion 2000
Random Jane – Clarion West 2005
- Short and sweet with some unusual metrics (I wonder how the yoga mat is)
Artemis Jones – Clarion West 2002
James Wallace Harris – Clarion West 2002
Babel Krieg – Clarion West 2008
Jordan Lapp – Clarion West 2009
Geoffrey A. Landis - Clarion 1985
- Survival tips (still relevant today), a few thoughts looking back, and where are they now statistics
David Levine – Clarion West 2000
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz – Clarion West 2009
- In Fantasy Magazine she writes of her anticipation
- She wrote many blog posts in her Livejournal, this is when she arrives at Clarion and you can trace her steps from there
Suzy McKee Charnas – A tutor’s perspective
Steve Mitchell, Clarion South 2009
Kari O’Connor – Clarion 2007
John Remy – Clarion West 2010
Pamela Rentz – Clarion West 2008
Shauna Roberts – Clarion 2009
- Shauna reflects on the process on her personal blog
- Shauna writes about it in Novel Spaces
Andy Romine – Clarion West 2010
Ben Rosenbaum – Clarion West
- http://www.benjaminrosenbaum.com/journal/2001_06_20.html
- http://www.benjaminrosenbaum.com/journal/2001_07_12.html
- http://www.benjaminrosenbaum.com/journal/2001_08_17.html
Allan Rousselle – Clarion West 2001
Rudy Rucker – Clarion West 2009
- Some sage words from an instructor How to write
Ken Schneyer – Clarion 2009
- Ken’s congratulations and advice to the Class of 2010
- Index of posts relating to Clarion (some of his posts even have pretty pictures!)
John Schoffstall – Clarion West 2004
Wendy A. Shaffer – Clarion West 2002
William Shunn – Clarion 1985
Angela Slatter – Clarion South
Clarion South on Tor.com – an overview
Clarion South on WordPress, including interviews with tutors on the process.
Clarion South Collective of 2007
- What comes first the successful writer or the workshop part one
- What comes first the successful writer or the workshop part two
- Getting creative part 1
- Getting creative aka the physics of unicorn horns part 2
- Quantity versus quality part one
- Quality over quantity part two
- Everything I need to know I learned at clarion south by laura e goodin
- Working-with-the-big-bad-bold-tutors
and the achievements of the 2007 class over the last two years
Dallas Taylor – Clarion 2010
- Looking back at Clarion 2010 – and why you should apply for 2011
- Process, application and who knows what else under his Clarion tag
Tom Undeberg – Clarion 2010
Jeff VanderMeer, Clarion South 2009
Tracie Welser (Clarion West 2010)
- Things tagged Clarion on her blog (including her Clarion Tattoo)
Alex Wilson – Clarion 2006
Clarion related and more alumni
Tina Connolly maintains a lot of knowledge love and linkage love for Clarion West, her year and other years
General blogs and linkage love for Clarion class of 2006
Blog links for Clarion West class of 2006
David Barr Kirtley – After Clarion
The Clarion Actual
The Clarion Foundation, The Clarion Blog & Clarion (San Diego, USA)
Clarion West (Seattle, USA)
Clarion South (????, Australia) – on hiatus indefinitely until they find an affordable venue. If you know somewhere that might be suitable for hosting a 6 week residential workshop please contact the organizers.
And down below, that’s my Clarion – 2009, San Diego
Liz is
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