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Tag Archives: Beg-A-Thon
Time for the Beg-A-Thon but I’m not Beg-A-Thoning
I think I’ve done fundraising for Clarion West every year since my year, except maybe I missed one. Or maybe I planned to miss one and was guilted into it at the last minute.
They have updated their fundraising platform and I dutifully created an account and it was way more complicated than it should have been. I kept looking for the most streamlined way to create my profile (starting all over, the profile I’ve been using is gone) and provide a URL that people could use for donating.
Meanwhile there was new login and a dashboard and I could input everybody’s email so we could spam you all into contributing and goal-setting and farkity-doo-dah. I realized I’d been clicking around for 20 minutes with no progress — for the honor of raising money for someone else.
So I got mad and asked that my account be deleted. (Which involved two people at different organizations.)
So, I am not doing the fundraiser this year.
On the one hand I realize there is a generational divide here and young people are coming in and bringing more modern way of doing things.
On the other hand, I despise the way these technology platforms turn everything into both a giant data mining operation and also an infantile reward system like nothing we do has meaning unless a computer has sent us a virtual pat on the back with lots of exclamation points.
Also the workshop is virtual this year which sounds like the most terrible idea ever. That’s the whole point, that you’re all living together and all you do is hang out and write, talk about writing, or look at things other people wrote. I can see how they wouldn’t want to go another year with no workshop but I wouldn’t want to do it this way.
Posted in doing it wrong
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Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #6
First tomato. Sherman and Mr. Peabody for scale. A week from now and I will have plenty more plus lemon cucumbers.
This week I tried to map out a conflict before I started rather than just thinking of a character and typing. It is a pretty half-assed entry but I made my stated goal of writing 6 brand new stories pulled out of nothing.
This week’s story is about a bored elder Aunt Beety who escapes quarantine to meet her sister and catch-up on gossip only to be thwarted by a tribal road block. She tells a fib to get around it with unexpected results.
Snippet:
“Well, I’m sick,” Beety said, touching her forehead. A flimsy folding table sat next to the nurse. She grabbed a little gadget and held it to Beety’s forehead.
Beety jerked back. “I do not consent.”
“You don’t have a temperature. Do you have symptoms?”
“Of course I do. Why would I be driving around by myself?”
Beety put her hand on the side of her face and grimaced then slid her hand down her neck and to her chest and forced a gargly cough.
“Yeah, that’s bad,” the nurse said. She picked up a walkie-talkie from the table. “We’ve got an elder gonna need an examination.”
Five (5!) pounds of roasted hatch chiles arrived on my doorstep Wednesday.
This is the final week of the write-a-thon but you may donate anytime. From the final report we had 535 writers with total donations of $19,839. OOF! So close to $20K
You can still sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate.
My classmate: Maggie.
My classmate: Tracy.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
Thanks again for your support.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #5 Update
Percy the fig tree in November, 2017.
This week I attempted to write something dark since I normally don’t even write characters who are mean to each other. I was not successful. This week’s story was 2400 words about Derrick, the bumbling thief who tries to steal $5000 from a lady upriver. It’s really 2400 words of throat clearing.
Snippet:
All he had to do was steal Dee’s dog, pretend to find it, bring it to her, get a reward, see where she grabbed the reward money from, knock her down, take the money, run to the dealer, get the drugs, set aside a portion for himself, sell the rest, and return the money to Dee.
What could go wrong?
I had a brilliant idea for a story as I was falling asleep and roused myself enough to jot a quick note so I would remember it in the morning.
The note says: Shallow NDN [illegible] $ Kids tribal [illegible.]
Feel free to steal.
Fig harvest 2020! So far we’ve picked 4. I ate 3 and gave 1 to Bob. There are 7 more out there.
The fundraiser continues. I seem to have deleted the progress report email but I think we raised almost $15K of our goal of $20K.
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate.
My classmate: Maggie.
My classmate: Tracy.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
Thanks again for your support.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #4 Update
One of the many pumpkins. I also seem to have a lot of gourds (?). I don’t even know what all I’m growing out there.
This week I wrote a 3650 word NDNs in space story about a generation ship that is not doing too well.
Snippet:
In truth, the kids went around to everything but learned very little. It was like a big game. Dori had spent her time in engineering making beaded necklaces and polishing metal things that Uncle Toad gave her.
They glossed over the math parts, they could rely on the computers to help with that. They learned to fix the computers but there were critical parts that no one seemed to know where to find or how to make.
The fundraiser continues.
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate.
My classmate: Maggie.
My classmate: Tracy.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
All donations are appreciated. Thank you.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #3 Update
The socially distancing birthday party was a delight but I still haven’t organized my photos so I will post at some point in the future. My photo collection is completely out of control. A massive day of organization is needed but not a priority at this time.
If this was the workshop the participants would be halfway through and probably all in love with each other and starting to worry how fast the workshop is flying by.
I made my goal but not very artfully.
I’ve been working on characterization and trying too hard made me seize up. I started writing in the first person and then started over in the third person. Both stories are slightly different but I did work both to an ending. 2410 words combined. No snippet this week.
It’s about a Karuk tribal member who is driving to Hoopa and picks up a hitchhiker who isn’t what they seem.
The fundraiser is kicking ass. According to my report there are 527 writers from all over the world plus the spirits of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, and Jules Verne. We’ve raised $12,929 so far. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. I will send personal thank yous to my sponsors.
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate.
My classmate: Maggie.
My classmate: Tracy.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
Any donation you are willing to give is terrific. We appreciate it.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #2 Update
What do you think? Is this guy going to make it?
This week I wrote a 2600 word story about Kelsey, the tribal member in charge of the Tribe’s theme park ride who is called in on her day off to investigate a ride anomaly and has to deal with a guy who is still mad she dumped him when they were teenagers.
Snippet:
“What’s going on?” I asked.
At first glance everything looked normal but you could never be sure since the ride went deep into the forest, mountains, a gold mine, a re-created Karuk village, a white-water river sequence and some generic wildlife activity before returning to the start point.
“Got ourselves a blip,” Ike said. He was dressed like a gas station attendant and pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket like an oil jockey which was hilarious because he actually sat in front of bank of monitors like a surveillance employee which is more like what he was.
I looked at Archie who nodded, vigorously not smiling and making sure I knew that was for me.
Full disclosure I am scheduling this post ahead of time. Today is my dad’s 90th birthday and we’re having a socially distant, masked-up, very few select guests birthday celebration that will include grilling red meat.
Hope you’re enjoying your Independence Day, too.
Important fundraising information:
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate.
My classmate: Maggie.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
All donations are welcome. If you’re suffering donation fatigue, we’ll take your good thoughts.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #1 Report
This week I wrote a 2800 word story about Lester, a fast-talking tribal member who hears the feds want to unload control over the “alien portal” that is located on tribal lands and sees a great opportunity for himself.
Snippet:
Lester had a friend of a friend in the local government. It took a few calls and some loitering at the casino bar until he managed to hook one of the alien portal employees into a conversation.
June was her name and she was three minutes away from retirement and not about to let you forget it. She drank something called a salmon prisoner – he was never clear what was in it but it was one of the most expensive cocktails on the menu.
The idea was inspired by this piece by Winona LaDuke Reconciliation Pipeline: How to Shackle Native People. Relevant quote:
Dressed up as “equity positionsâ€, or “reconciliationâ€, across the continent, corporations and governments are trying to pawn off bad projects on Native people.
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
Or tireless workshop supporter Kate Schaefer.
My classmate: Maggie.
If you want to check out the participants yourself: CW Write-a-thon Writers.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
All donations are welcome. If you’re suffering donation fatigue, we’ll take your good thoughts.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Time Again
First a correction from my last post: My tree has 1 Gala apple and 3 Red McIntosh for a total of 4 apples.
Like most people, I can’t seem to dig out from under all my email so I let it accumulate and then tackle it in fits and starts which isn’t particularly effective as it comes in all the time.
I finally read my Clarion West Write-A-Thon email and learned that it starts tomorrow. Whew. Just in time.
As you might have guessed, there is no workshop this summer. The same students and instructors are hoping to convene in summer 2021. The workshop will be doing online things this summer.
These are my posts from during the workshop: Overview, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 part 1, Week 4 part 2, Week 5 and Week 6.
If I can think of anything fresh to say about it, I’ll add it to a future post.
Because I’m not happy unless I’m not happy, my goal for this year is to pull a fresh idea out of my butt and write a brand new story each week. I’m not going to gnash my teeth and try to make them pretty but I will aim for at least 1000 words of something. I will post a little snippet or description at the end of each week.
You can sponsor me here.
You can sponsor one of our workshop leaders here: Neile.
I’m not sure if any of my classmates are write-a-thoning, if so I will post links next week.
Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264
Micro-donations are welcome. We love your support.
Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #2
I successfully completed my week #2 goal which was 7 days of no writing. I cheated a tiny bit one day when I accidentally read an article about dialogue. As soon as I realized it, I shut my browser.
During my break, I did all kinds of things that I normally never do: I hung out downtown with my sweetie and saw Malcom Terence read at Powell’s, I went to a happy hour celebration for one of my sweetie’s colleagues, I watched epic amounts of World Cup soccer, I finished three books that I had sitting around here half finished since January, I went to the Farmer’s Market, I went to see Isle of Dogs.
It went by fast.
I’m back at it again, working on cleaning the ms. up. I have not done any marketing things yet but I’m sincere in my intent to do so soon.
Thanks to everyone who donated so far. Still plenty of time and all donations are appreciated. Here are links for me and my classmates and workshop administrators.
me
Theresa
Maggie
Carol
Tracy
Leslie
Neile
Lots of other writers — find someone to sponsor here: The Group.
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Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #1
These are some of my Clarion West classmates waiting for Chuck Palahniuk to do his reading. Front row is: Christopher, Maggie, Kristin, Owen, Caren, Eden, Raj, Tracy and a tiny bit of Kira. Behind them is: Jim, Carol, Theresa, Pritpaul, and Douglas.
For week one I finished my romance novel manuscript and sent to beta readers. I am so tired I can’t see straight. I take my personal deadlines very seriously and I estimated three 12 hour days to get here but it was two 12s and one 11. I am looking forward to 7 full days of zero writing other than what I have to do for work. Also I said I would do some marketing. So we’ll see how I do. Tomorrow I hope to be screen free.
I’m going to cut and paste from the Clarion West page: Clarion West Writers Workshop is a nonprofit literary organization based in Seattle, WA with a mission to improve speculative fiction by providing high quality education to writers at the start of their careers.
I attended in 2008 and do not exaggerate when I say it changed my life.
Any donation, even just a couple bucks is cheerfully accepted. These are links to my donor page and my classmates who have registered so far:
me
Theresa
Maggie
Carol
Or pick other writers that interest you: The Group.
Hopefully some more detailed updates to come.
This was the word count of the beta reader draft:
72006 / 75000 words. 96% done!