Another update
I submitted my first Clarion story tonight, and returned to the Real World to find Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett dead, as well as Jerri Nielson FitzGerald, the scientist who diagnosed and operated on her own breast cancer in Antarctica. It's given me plenty to think about, and no doubt I'll repost that Michael Jackson Billy jean video when I get a moment.

But I promised a Clarion update. And so I note that I picked a way-too-ambitious story project for week one because it happened to be the one I wanted to write. I think I'm already noticing a "Clarion improvement effect" in that for the first time in many years, I actually *plotted* the story. My usual thing is to just start with an image and keep going. I think (read: am hoping) the story structure is better as a result. Certainly, I predicted to my classmates around scene 1 that this would be a 6000 wd story, and it ended up clocking in at 5,995 words. Behold the miracle of plotting!

I also applied John Kessel's advice re: "counterpunching" plots, and I think as a result, I developed a scene that I normally wouldn't have inserted until a 2nd draft, after a bunch of readers pointed out it was needed. There's a lot that's still wonky in the plot, I'm sure, but for something that got pounded out on a keyboard and turned in just under the wire (submitted at 8:57pm for a 9 pm deadline), I'm pleased with it. I accomplished my main goal, at any rate, which was to get the narrative concluded without falling back on "rocks fall, everyone dies."

I fear in getting this done I've given myself a rep for being "crazy!hardcore!" which I don't think is true. (Exhibit A: swan_tower.) I think it's just that I prefer to do my work in social settings like the lounge, that have other people around. It's what I've got used to as a grad student. But the downside is that everyone sees me working away, whereas they don't see the people who are writing in their rooms.

....aaaand that's it for tonight. I need sleep. So I'll post more later.