Stories of the future - science fiction, foresight and the future

‘The Boy Who Slept’ went under the knife of a Clarion crit session this morning. I’ve presented this story before, to other groups. And, true to form, it divided the critters there.

It was an interesting experience, to have 16 people, then the author, take shots at it. Some people loved it. Some people found that it still has some problems that need to be resolved.

The experience itself wasn’t too bad, actually. As always, you can’t help but be jittery as people are about to tell you what you think. It’s human nature. But you get used to it.

After lunch I started critting for tomorrow’s session. We’ve been here two days. The sheer amount of work you fit into a day is quite amazing. The structure ensures you get through work. It feels like I’ve been here a week. Probably something to do with the hot-house environment, the apartments full of people writing, the constant reading, the way your mind is continuously thinking of ideas even just before you sleep. You’re literally living and dreaming Clarion. The campus is quite isolated. You really need transport to go to the shops. It all adds to the sense you’re removed from everything else on island Clarion and can get through your work.

This morning I finished a first draft of ‘The World Of Lost Ideas’. I’m done with this one now and next will finish ‘Silver City’. I also started a new piece called ‘Network’ last night which I’m thinking of submitting for next week, if I can get through it.

Well, the day takes it out of you. It went something like this:

Diary of Day 1:
5am - cycle
6:30am - breakfast
7am - started to do some writing
8:50am - met downstairs and walked over to the crit room
9am to 1pm - met Robert Hood (the tutror), critted three stories (16 people to comment), spent time eith each of us outlining our expectations
1pm - quick lunch
1pm to 5 pm - spent time critting tomorrow’s stories (takes about 1 to 1.5 hours) and doing some of my own writing
5pm - break
6pm - dinner
6pm onwards - more critting, more writing, getting to know my apartment neighbours, reading some short stories, trying to relax a little

I can imagine after 6 weeks of this I’ll be either exhausted or writing at a zillion miles an hour or maybe a bit of everything. This is intensive, a totally abosrbing experience.

Today I continued work on two stories - ‘Silver City’ and ‘The World Of Lost Ideas’. Trunk stories in Clarion terms. A ‘trunk’ story is one you’ve been working on before and you pull out of the ‘trunk’ at Clarion to continue on. It’s discouraged. The focus on Clarion is on writing new work. Each week you shoudl aim for a new short story. It doesn’t matter how polished it is, this is the point, it’s about you pushing through and developing new ideas. The entire crit group knows their all in the same boat, which is half the fun.

The two stories I’m working on are still in development. I’m hoping to finish them off the next day or so. I really want to get them out of my system, and there’s still some explorative work I need to do with my own writing to get them there. After that….new ideas galore!

I’ve brought up a couple of Moleskin diaries that I’ve collected ideas in over the last 12 months. And some other scrap paper that has an occasional scrawl. I know there are a few there I would like to turn my attention to. I’m trying to limit the time I spend on emails, the internet and so forth so I actually churn out some writing.

I feel it’s important to get my priorities straight for the next six weeks:

This is a photo of my room.

6:29am. A fitful sleep in the Brisbane heat. Woken up by the birds at 5am. No daylight savings here. Went for a ride to get the body going. Not too far. My legs aren’t used to this heat. The uni campus circuit is great. Fast (if you hop the speed humps) and a couple of nice hills.

6:30am. The IT guy connected my laptop to the internet yesterday. My emails are tempting. The web is tempting. What am I here for again? Writing. Yes! Avoid distractions. You spend so long waiting to be here, and then when you are, all the prepation funnels into a single moment, when it’s time to begin your work. So, get to it. I’ve a couple of hours, just the screen and me, before the first crit session starts!

Well, I’m here. Would you believe it. As I type I hear the tapping of a keyboard next door. One of the Clarionites writing his blog next door. I’ve been here two hours.

I stuffed my bicycle into a Virgin Blue box at the airport. After a bit of rushing about, worried I might not get through on time, I had all my bags away. A sad goodbye to my girlfriend, Linny, with a wave at the top of the escalator. Security check, waiting, then on the plane.

A bit sad to be away from friends and family, even if only for six weeks, but generally very excited.

Robert D picked me and Jess up from the airport.

“You have a bike to take?” he asked.

“Sure do, you have a car?”

“A hatchback.”

“Mmm. Let’s see how we go. I’ll just collect it from baggage.”

A bike box was pushed through the plastic sheets of the Virgin baggage claim like meat at an abbatoir. I looked at the box standing lamely, holes gashed through it’s side. That couldn’t be mine. “Oh shit, it is mine.”

After tearing the tape off I found my bike inside and plugged it all together. Looked ok. It will do. We fit it in the hatchback, thanks to Robert D’s fantastic tetris skills.

The drive from Brisbane was long and not too hot. Nathan Campus looks like it’s in the bush. As we drove up the winding road (quite a hill), I figured it would do me nicely for a cycling circuit. Starting when? Tomorrow, perhaps.

We got out of the car and met Robert H, Heather and Kate. People who’ve been helping us put this whole thing together over the last couple of months. It was nice to finally put names to faces.

The first thing Robert D did was show us to the apartments. A bit 70s perhaps. The partments inside have a patchwork linoleum kitchen and 8 doors down a corridor, all locked. These will be out rooms for the next six weeks.

I unlatched my door. Smallish, but cosy, lots of space for books and other items. I pinned my bike behind the door, setup the fan they provided us (we each get one, and each have to put it together….kind of like Survivor). A quick coffee (third for the day) and then downstairs to meet some other Clarionites. There are three floors of us, each with five to seven per floor. The second thing Robert D did was give us our showbags.

We’ve all got chatting pretty quickly. Everyone’s nice. I’m sure we’ll be spending some highs and lows together as the weeks role by.

When I opened the showbag I found an envelop….”a letter from 2005″. I’ll spare you all the words, and give you one paragraph:

Relish your time here. Immerse yourself in it. Gorge yourself on it. Drink it like the ambrosia it is, for such opportunities come but rarely. For you fortunate few, bring what you must and take what you will and realise you, as a writer, will never be the same from the moment you dropped your bags on that narrow, uninviting-looking bed.

Well, maybe two:

Clarion is as demanding on you as it is on your loved ones. While you’re the one sitting here, seeing how many worlds you can spin on the head of a pin, your partners, families, and friends are thinking of you. Never forget their investment, their sacrifice, for this is as deep as your own.

Thank you to Mark Barnes for providing these inspirational thoughts to us.

And so it goes. Orientation in half an hour. Robert Hood is taking week one.

So earlier this week I received an email from Robert Hoge with eight stories attached. One of them’s mine. In the email he askes us to get busy reading because these are the stories that we’ll be workshopping for the first two and a half days of week one. Did some say this was going to be intense!

I’m nervous and excited about it at once. Nervous because I’ve no idea what to expect. Excited because it will be fantastic to be surrounded by writers, without any other distractions, with time to dedicate myself to the task. Daunting too. I don’t know what six weeks + me + only write, equals. Breakthough! I hope. I wonder what’s going to come out on the other side.