[Clarion West 2k1, week 6: only a few days left...]

Monday. Went to class, where we had four stories (many of which were short shorts, per our assignment from Jack) to critique. Throughout the morning, Jack gave us tips on making our story-telling more compact.

A short short, by the way, tends to run under 2,000 words and often focuses on one incident or episode. The idea is to get a lot information across in a short amount of space. As such, writing one is a great exercise at sharpening your skills.

After class, a few of us headed for lunch at Dick's. Jack was unable to join us, but he indicated that he's a fan of their fine, fine cuisine. (Have I mentioned Dick's yet in this journal? A deluxe hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake for only a few bucks. Mmm, mmm.)

Back to the dorms for reading and critiquing, and then six of us decided to try a different Ethiopian/Nigerian cuisine restaurant. Carla, Kiini, Avi, Emily, ibi, and myself. ibi was kind enough to recommend the plantains (did I spell that correctly? :), which were excellent, and I enjoyed the Nigerian-style beef meal as well with a banana juice chaser.

As has often been the case, we wrapped up the day with a group silent critique session (wherein we all gather in one room and read our stories and write our crits silently), and then a few of us retired for milk and cookies before trundling off to bed.