One of the coolest things about being at Clarion West was being able to go up to someone like Ted Chiang or Ian MacDonald after they had had a drink (Ted) or five (Ian) and ask, what’s your creative process? And because we were Official Workshop Students, and Had Suffered for Our Art, they shared [...]

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No conflict, no story. We learned this lesson within the first day or two of the workshop. We were also taught that the best authors are sadists who delight in tormenting their protagonists, making them suffer, placing them in horrific situations where they have to make heart-wrenching decisions. And this is the problem as I [...]

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So, let’s say that you just experienced something life-changing. Maybe you broke your ankle, and it didn’t quite set properly. A series of events spills forth from that moment. Maybe you meet someone at the hospital emergency room, and you start dating, but he turns out to be a total asshole. Maybe while struggling with [...]

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Rather than processing, I think I’m going to give myself permission to log or list experiences, feelings, goals and images, instead of crafting a narrative out of them. I don’t think I’ll have time to process until post-Clarion, and my storytelling powers will be focused on the weekly deadlines for the workshop. The few days [...]

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This video shows one of my classmates attempting a “dyno”–that’s short for “dynamic movement.” A dyno is essentially jumping to grab a hold that’s otherwise beyond your reach. There are a few things that this poor quality video doesn’t quite get across: 1) The angle of the wall is such that every move, for relative [...]

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Over the past three years, I’ve transformed from a database administrator and web developer into a project manager. I wish I could say instead that I’ve changed into a glowing green mutant who can spurt radioactive mucous, but no, I drew straws and got “project manager.” Like many comic book mutants, this transformation has less [...]

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“To be great, we must attempt so much that we not only are in danger of forever failing, but that we do fail ..and in the failure create something greater than if we had set our sights lower.” Jeff Vandermeer, Booklife I live in a state of constant failure. I take on more that I [...]

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There are 13 weeks in June, July, and August, and I will spend six of those at Clarion West. Because the influence of the workshop will extend far beyond my time in Seattle, I wanted to start a Clarion West Journal of sorts. I’ve tried to maintain Mind on Fire as an issues-oriented blog with [...]

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