The long, drawn-out period of waiting for news about Clarion has finally driven me to accept Vylar Kaftan’s challenge: write a complete story before receiving acceptance/rejection. The point is to stave off anxiety by making it productive. I picked a random idea from the voice recorder app on my iPhone (good ideas come to me while I’m driving), wrote a hook and outlined ideas for conflict/rising action/development. I challenged myself further to write in third person, which I typically feel uncomfortable with. No conclusion yet, though. Is it normal to begin writing on a story before you know where it’s going? I follow that method most of the time. It keeps me from procrastinating too much.
So, now I have until Friday to finish it, maybe. Unless the Clarion folks miss their own deadline for notifying applicants. I fantasize concerning the reason they still haven’t notified me. I won’t go into details there. These thoughts make my stomach hurt.
My best thoughts seem to come when I’m in the tub. I hope I can remember this morning’s ruminations as I write my essay today. It’s due tomorrow and I have another paper and a presentation due Tuesday. So much for my good intentions of doing it all during break!
Best wishes!
Susan
Still waiting. Not as emotional today as I was a few days ago. I don’t know about you, but it comes and goes for me. The busy day I had yesterday probably helped.
Tonight I intend to relax and catch up on some TV. (I missed Heros this week and I’m two weeks behind on 24.) I have decided that the phone won’t ring until Friday…if at all. If it rings sooner, all the better, but I’m not waiting beside it anymore.
Still blocked, though. Maybe it’s the stress, maybe it’s the story.
Good luck.
-Oso