It is such a scary moment to hit “submit” on anything, but when it is writing-related that anxiousness just gets ratcheted up a notch or two (hundred). At least for me! I think because it has been a goal in my life for so long that it has way more import than it probably ought to.
Anyway, that said, I did go ahead and hit submit on my Clarion application! I know that with only 18 accepted entrants, my chances of acceptance are slim. But the timing really works out for me, as I am searching for a job to start in June right now and I could just push my search back to August if I am accepted. Plus, I feel like my writing is really at the point where I could use some sort of push to get to that next level.
I thought about writing new short stories just for my application, but I didn’t want to divert so much attention from my current editing project. (Writing and editing are totally different mindsets for me.) So I submitted two short stories I’ve written in the past couple years. I think they are both solid stories and representative of my current writing ability, although only one is genre. Short stories are the only time I ever write non-genre, funny enough. Not that I write short stories all that often, which is another reason I would love to do Clarion. I work so much on novel writing that it would be good to get another skill to add to my repertoire.
So. Now I get to sit and wait. Luckily since I procrastinated so much on my application (the deadline is March 1), I won’t have to wait quite so long! Plus, I have a lot of editing to keep my mind off things.