Clarion Training Schedule
February 15, 2006
If I can train for a marathon, I can train for the Clarion Writer's Workshop, right?
Okay I've got just over four months (if accepted) to get my writing habits in shape. I figure I've got three big changes I need to make between now and then to be truly effective as a writer away from home and, most importantly, to get the most out of this workshop.
- I need to produce weekly stories.
I figure I'll benefit the most from each instructor if he or she can actually look at my work. But at my current rate, I'll only have a story for one and a half of them. Prep work takes me the longest, so for any week I don't have a finished story, I'm going to push myself to at least work out a new plot outline.
- I need to bring my reading speed up to 500+ words per minute.
This is important or else I'll be spending all my time getting through other people's stories with no time to write my own. I think this is possible. I've already increased it by 50% and I've only been at this speed reading thing a few weeks. As a bonus, I'm also finding my retention rate goes up with my speed... very important when reading critically.
- I need to get my notes digitally organized.
I can't be taking boxes of scrap paper with me to Michigan. And even if I could, then I would need a system or else I'd never be able to find the idea I'm looking for. I've got to type these babies up and enter them into a system that makes sense. I do have a few OmniOutliner files that serve this purpose, but between them and my Moleskines, I'm sure I'd have trouble finding even what I was working on two weeks ago.
I've got just over four months left, so here's how I'm breaking it down:
February 16 - March 15
- 1 story, 3 outlines
- 350 wpm reading speed
- Ideabox Templates Implemented
March 16 - April 15
- 2 stories, 2 outlines
- 400 wpm
- Scrap Paper Sorted and Typed Up
April 16 - May 15
- 3 stories, 1 outline
- 450 wpm
- Notebooks Sorted and Typed Up
May 16 - June 20
- 4 stories
- 500 wpm
- Information Optimized
I get extra time in June because for a few days I'll be recovering from running a marathon (not to mention a practice marathon in May).
I also have an extensive reading list (this is the first year that I've already read stuff by all the author-teachers at a Clarion, but a few of the books and stories were a long time ago. Plus there are plenty of SF classics I'm embarassed to admit I haven't picked up yet), and I would like to get at least six weeks ahead with Telltale so there's no downtime there. And notes and such aren't the only part of our place that I need to unclutter.
Phew. This is already looking harder than the marathon.
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