[Clarion West 2k1: we enter the second half of the six week program. Hard to believe it's already half over.]

Woke up. Got outta bed. Dragged a comb across my head. Went grocery shopping. Made Jambalaya for the crew. It was a double batch, and therefore I needed help in order to make sure stuff got cut up and into the soup before too much time was spent simmering various ingredients. Thanks to Ling for helping out!

I came up with an idea for my next story. This is a record for me. Ran the idea by one of my fellow classmates, and she gave some excellent suggestions of pitfalls I should seek to avoid. :-)

We met Connie Willis today, who is our instructor for week 4. Highlights of today's introductory session:

* She brought The African Queen, which we will watch at some point this week so as to use it as a teaching tool for handling plot.

* She mentioned that we need to not focus on the critique we receive on our work, but instead, we need to pay attention to the critique that our fellow writers are giving each other. This is where we will learn the lessons we most need to hear.

* She gave us an assignment for tomorrow: Write how five of your favorite novels/stories/movies/poems/whatever begin. What triggers the action that sets off the story?

* Part two of the exercise: think of a favorite story/novel/movie/whatever that begins with: *a letter or a note, * a chance encounter, * an arrival, * a departure, * a death, * a wedding, * a disaster, * a crime, * a mistake, and * a disappearance.

None of her exercises asked us for a story that starts "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" or "Once upon a time." Har, har.

After the introduction round, it was time for dinner. In addition to my spicy jambalaya that turned out not to be so spicy, we had a vegan stew, a house salad (with emphatically no celery), and crawfish. The food was excellent, and once again I marvelled to see the entire crew come together to prepare the meal, set the table, and break it all down when it was over. One interesting glitch: we had run out of paper plates and paper cups, so we resorted to scrounging up real plates; for cups, we used these thimble-sized dixie cups that someone found who-knows-where.

Dinner and dessert (one of our Vancouver-based members retrieved some amazing strawberries and other fresh fruit from north of the border) were both fine, and I'm pleased to say that no one threw up after tasting my contribution to the meal.

The same, alas, can not be said about the reaction to the story I handed in on Friday for Monday's critique. There are two things at issue: 1) it is a revised version of a story that had been written prior to Clarion, and 2) it was over 4,500 words, which makes this group squirm. The combination is deadly, and I'm already getting totally killed over it. (The fact that the story still has major flaws doesn't help.)

I made an error, and I will be eating serious crow tomorrow. Tip for future Clarionites: when you think you might want to rework a story while you're here, don't do it. I shoulda known better.

Glad I have a new story idea for this week; bummed that I'm still going to have to face the music tomorrow for reworking a previous effort.

One final note. Connie returned from a shopping trip this evening with disposable cups for us all. They have riddles and jokes pre-printed on them. My kind of thing. I'm very much looking forward to this week.