Posted by TayariJones on August 26, 2007 08:33 AM
Filed under
The Writing Life
Mail bag!
Just curious - what does it take to get your dance card so completely filled in for the summer? Do you get a break before you start up the round of applications and inquiries for next year? Can you tell us how much time/effort went into organizing your summer schedule? --AT
Thanks, AT, for your question. Below you'll find some tips!
Apply widely. When it's time to put in applications, you must be both an optimist and a pessimist. Apply for the most prestigious conferences and residencies, but also apply for the ones that are a little less fabulous. Your goal is to get accepted into at least one. I would say apply to at least three things. I do this every year with varying results.
Don't worry about your calendar just yet. You can't really know at the end of the year what your summer will look like. Just apply and then iron out the details later.
Assess your resources. The thing about sending out an application blitz is that you might just get accepted everywhere. If this happens, first take a moment to enjoy all that affirmation. THEN, sit back and decide how much time, energy, and money, you are prepared to spend on your summer activities. Factor in travel time, travel costs, lost wages, and wear and tear on your family.
You don't want to wear yourself out. I knew someone one who was accepted to Wesleyan, Sewanee, and Bread Loaf. He was determined to do all three. He did, but by Bread Loaf, he was too tired to enjoy himself or even make a good impression on the people around him.
Don't double book yourself. If you leave one conference early to go to another, it will not look good on your record. This is a small community of writers. Someone will see you and it will get back to the organizers who will be annoyed that you took a space that could have been given to a writer who was willing to stay the full time.
Ask around. I try and find other writers who have attended an event before I make my decisions. If I can, I ask several people. Your best bet is to try and find someone similar to you and see what her experience was like. Ask about the things that are important to you-- the caliber of teaching, the level of competitiveness, the racial situation, etc. I can think of at least two events that I opted not to attend because of the horror stories.
Spread the word. Summer writing events are very helpful to writers at any stage. As I speak to people around the country, I have discovered that so many people are unaware of these opportunities. So, if you hear about something cool, tell someone.
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