Craig Clevenger Returns for the last Shotgun Workshop Intensive for 2009!
Attention writers! Lock and load, because it's time to prowl the wasteland of procrastination and start collecting scalps. Translation: It's time to get serious about your writing. Here at The Cult, we do not rest until we're sure that every writer with potential that is reading this has taken that fateful plunge into improving their craft. We're relentless in this endeavor; to make you all better writers and to hopefully, get you published.
What started this year with Chuck Palahniuk reading and reviewing 6 stories every month for an upcoming anthology, has just evolved into another beastly arm of The Cult's writers' workshop... this one belonging to badass scribe Craig Clevenger!
Clevenger has joined us as the first visiting author for our new 'Authors in Residence' series. This is different from previous Master Intensive Workshops, as it is not lecture and homework based, but more of a classroom creative writing course... a two week 'Shotgun' Intensive to focus on the material that you, the student, are working on.
The July and September Shotguns garnered so much interest, enthusiasm and success that Craig has graciously agree to retun for one more in 2009. This class starts October 12 and ends October 26.
To ensure personal attention and an intimate classroom style setting, the Shotgun Intensives are limited to only 15 Students.
Furthermore, Craig wants you all to know exactly what you're in store for, so he has posted his Introduction for everyone to read beforehand. Please read the attachment at the end of this thread.
Important Details:
- Lectures are via conference calls on Wednesdays and Sundays. Times are TBA once we determine the time zones of all the students.
- Registration is open to anyone with an any degree of writing experience from novice writers to published authors.
- What's the cost for this opportunity to study with Craig Clevenger for two weeks in this intimate and personal Shotgun Intensive: It's only $250 with special discounts as always to our premium members.
*Premium members will receive a courtesy discount of $25. - There is also an additional 'Early Bird' discount of $25 for registrations from today, September 28 through Midnight, September 30! (Pacific time, USA)
Important Dates:
- Monday, October 5th: The October Shotgun Forum will open for viewing only so participants can read two essays by Craig Clevenger: 1) -Shit Happens and
- 2) -Story Forensics: A Checklist
- Thursday, October 8th: ALL workshop submissions for the course must be emailed to mirka@chuckpalahniuk.net. (Submissions may be up to 7000 words maximum and can consist of more than one piece as long as they don't exceed the total word count.)
- Monday, October 12: The Intensive opens on the forum for Introductions and review of each others work.
Click here to sign up for the October Shotgun with Craig Clevenger!
Lastly, remember to please post all questions you have about the class here, and we will answer them in a timely manner.
Comments
that seems too good to be true!
thanks a bunch Kirk, i am horrible with technology and all this stuff. even finding out my options. so i appreciate your help.
seems like i should be pretty right, if i do that.
I'm the same but i managed to set up a skype account last night and buy some credit. Here is a cheap and good headset i found on amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000UNRNX4/ref=olp_product_details?ie...
So you need a headset? Or can you just listen through the speakers on your laptop and talk through the mic?
Uhhh, overwhelming!
Overwhelming? First all this Skype jibber-jabber, then the missus gets me one of the new Optimus Primes Transformers for laugh for my birthday - when the f**k did they get so complicated?! Thing takes like 9 hours to change forms! What happened to the block-shaped ones from the 80s?!
Hi I signed up to this the other day and while I did receive a receipt for it through Pay Pal - I am just wondering if there is any other form of notification of entry into the course. I only bring this up as my email seemed to have unsubscribed the last few days. It is now subscribed again if I missed anything. Cheers
yeah, as soon as i signed up, i got that same email, the unsubscription notice. We're all good, right? Mirka?
Guys I got the same but I messages mirka and she said it was fine.
Yeah, that is a bug on our end with our mailing list, don't worry about it.
Uhhh, overwhelming!
You can use your speakers and mic. A headset is generally better though since it doesn't pick up so much ambient noise.
I just configured skype with my mac and did the test call. The quality was great. If you have a mac you should be good.
Uhhh, overwhelming!
You can use your speakers and mic. A headset is generally better though since it doesn't pick up so much ambient noise.
That ambient nose will be heard on the call, so please don't use just a mic and speakers, use a headset or UCB phone.
Not that I don't agree, but you can (and should) mute your mic if you're not talking. That goes for people with headsets too.
I use my built in mic pretty regularly, actually.
I use my built in mic pretty regularly, actually.
Right, we do ask people to mute themselves when they aren't speaking regardless of how they are calling in. But we've already experienced the havoc of speakers and speaker phones during the first Intensive. It was slightly funny, but not. We've also had mall noise, wailing cats, sirens and leaf-blowers. Yep, stay muted unless speaking and use a phone or headset.
I use my built in mic pretty regularly, actually.
Right, we do ask people to mute themselves when they aren't speaking regardless of how they are calling in. But we've already experienced the havoc of speakers and speaker phones during the first Intensive. It was slightly funny, but not. We've also had mall noise, wailing cats, sirens and leaf-blowers. Yep, stay muted unless speaking and use a phone or headset. :)
Noted.
Okay. Well, guess I better look into buying some kind of headset then. Thanks for the help y'all.
I posted a link to an amazon headset that I've just ordered. It received alot of good reviews.
Yeah, saw that and thanks but it's not exactly inexpensive and it's not something I'm going to use more than a few times and besides all that, it won't arrive at my place in time unless I get super speedy shipping. I think I'm just have to suss out sick smiths or something.
I've just ordered the one Martin did. So if it goes tits up, it's all his fault.
It's so cool to have someone that will be a day ahead in the class. It's a mind trip. We'll all be logging in on the 12th, and Matthew, you'll be waiting around that day twiddling your thumbs. Or writing, I hope!
No women signed up yet, now that's odd.
Matt, if you need to keep it on the cheap, consider one of these.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Analog-Desktop-Stick-Microphone/dp/B000...
It's not a headset, but it's what I use for all my Skype stuff and it works wonderfully. I use the computer speakers to listen in.
It also has a mute switch right on it, so when you need to talk just hit the switch.
Yeah I worried about the delivery time aswell, but I can only hope. It may be a tad expensive, but I will look like Maverick from top-gun. That I feel is worth the shipping cost alone
You can be goose, I'm maverick ok. Just incase Clevenger asks.
Anything that helps writers become better at their craft is an amazing thing to do. There are things that we can all learn and the sooner we become willing to learn the sooner we can all become published. online casino
You can be goose, I'm maverick ok. Just incase Clevenger asks.
No way. What do you think puts the lame "mav" into Maverick?
"I feel the need... the need... to read..."
hey, thanks Kirk. you've been a true champion helping us (the technologically retarded) with working this shit out.
and mirka, the whole mind trip of time gets me every time. the fact that somehow i am now ahead of you. it is so weird. freaks me out. every time i try to work it out i just end up more confused.
so how many spots are left? i thought this would have been filled by now. come on people. craig fucking clevenger, it's craig fucking clevenger that will be teaching us! damn.
and...BRING ON THE FEMALES!
So what are people aiming to work on this? I ask as I have an idea of what I want, and need, to work but I want to see what everybody else is thinking?
what do you mean?
i basically signed up for this because a: it's a chance to study under an author i admire. b: this guy knows his shit and it will be fantastic hearing what he has to say in such an intimate setting. uhhh, c: i have only just begun recently taking writing more seriously. i want to learn. i want to develop my writing. i have alot to work on. and this will be a big kick in the arse for me, motivation wise.
i don't have a novel i am working on per se, but i have quite a few ideas, i have some under-developed stories etc. what i am really wanting to do is find out/work on developing ideas, re-writing.
i guess, i am still really finding my style and voice and all that jazz.
it's gonna be rocking though. i just hope i am not too novice for craig. i don't mind a nice hot scorching, but i just don't want to waste the man's, or my fellow student's, time.
I was in the last shotgun. Craig and Mirka both did an outstanding job! I had a fun time. Hit the deck!
I'm working on a novel. I figure Craig can help me get the kinks ironed out of the first few chapters...Or tell me to do a complete rewrite. I'm hoping for the former.
Mathew what I meant when I said that was; what particular elements would you like Craig to help you with? Personally mine are:
Utilizing effective time shifts, whilst keeping and creating a smooth flow/narrative.
A) Establishing both head and heart authority.
C) Effective implentation and use of the chorus mechanism.
Mirka, is this how I should be approaching this or do I have the wrong idea?
I'll chime in here, really quickly. Pardon me, Mirka, if you've addressed any of these already.
As for Skype, I don't recall the costs offhand, and I'm not sure if it's any different when it comes to international calls. That said, I've had plenty of conversations using ordinary headphones or earbuds plugged into my laptop's 'audio out' jack, in conjunction with the built-in microphone. No need for special headgear.
As for the calls, we do two per week; Mirka prioritizes the order in which I address each student according to time zones, first and foremost. That way, someone on the call at midnight in Europe would be addressed sooner than someone in my time zone.
The calls are long, typically between two and three hours. In spite of that, I'm still only able to address each student's work for roughly fifteen minutes, before I ask that student if he/she has any questions (I field broader questions after all the students have been addressed). To that end, I talk fast and focus on concrete, tangible issues. Grammar. Lots of grammar.
We usually have the class divided in half, so I critique half of the students' work on the first Week I call, the other half on the second Week I call. Rinse and repeat for Week II. Again, grammar, lots of grammar.
If a student is unable to make a call where he/she is scheduled for a critique, I'll address the student as per the order, and Mirka will PM that student with a time stamp where my remarks are recorded, once the conference call archive is made available.
I'm available on the boards during the duration of the class, so students who couldn't make a call can fire off a question after-the-fact, as can anyone else who had a question come to mind once the dust cleared and my rapidfire grammar-babble has stopped ringing in their ears.
The Shotgun boards stay on point with the class, for the most part. Some students digress with certain threads and/or ask me questions outside the scope of the intensive. I'm always happy to chime in on unrelated subjects or answer broader questions, once I've tackled all of the pertinent stuff.
Did I mention there would be lots of grammar? I have several reasons for this:
1) I have no patience for wishy-washy, subjective feedback. "I felt like..." or "I just sorta think..." or blah, blah, blah. Certainly, a lot of criticism is purely one's personal opinion, but before those things come into play, there must be certain fundamental issues taken into account. People can debate the merits of one musical genre over the other, but nobody is going to call random ocean noise music (unless you're John Cage or Yoko Ono)... again, certain fundament elements need to be in place for something to be called music, or fiction, or whatever.
2) In almost every instance, when a student has a gut feel about a weakness in their work-- something based on their own opinion-- it can usually be quantified by close examination of verb forms, conflicting subjects or verbs, blurry or nonexistent pronoun antecedents, etc. It's rarely, in my experience, a result of evil adverbs (much maligned, in my opinion), passive verbs (because there's no such thing... more on that in the class), or the other usual suspects and grammatical bogeymen.
3) Following on the second point, using grammar fundamentals as the killing floor for each line of prose is the fastest way to ferret out weak points in one's work. What I teach (in both the Hotseat and Shotgun intensives [why do my workshops sound so violent?]) is a focus on craft; I encourage the students to likewise focus on craft and trust that if they do so, the art will follow.
4) Everything I teach will have exceptions; they abound in my own work as well as in that of much greater writers. With every lesson, you will have no problem thinking of examples that run contrary to what I'm saying. My point is that neither way is necessarily correct in every case, but the writer should examine each and every word of their work and make choices deliberately, and not out of habit.
As for "head/heart authority" or the chorus mechanism, I recognize those as Palahniuk's teachings but, as any of my former students can attest to, I haven't read those essays. I have a rough idea of the chorus mechanism, but former students (Shotgun disciples in particular) can attest to one of my own specific ideas colliding head-on with Palahniuk's "submerging the 'I'" concept. Nonetheless, I think your concerns can be viewed through the larger scope of grammar and syntax.
Hope to see you there.
-C
Thankyou for clearing this up Craig. Up until now I really didn't have and clue what I'd let myself in for. Now it's all starting to make sense.
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Craig, thanks for letting us know what we've got ourselves in to.
"When Words Collide" is my new best friend. I hate being so novice. Gulp.
Craig, thanks for letting us know what we've got ourselves in to.
"When Words Collide" is my new best friend. I hate being so novice. Gulp.
Yeah man. We are going to be grilled, as far as I can gather, on the structure of our sentences; in regards to how we tell the story. That, i know, sounds obvious but it's really not.
It's all the craft stuff I'm after, feels a bit daunting. Leap-of-faith type-stuff.
Now that, that was exactly what I want to look at.
Still, another question, something simple: would you prefer a single piece near the word limit, or would maybe two pieces, together of around 7K be alright?
Again, thank you for this, Craig. I expect to be completely eviscerated during this intensive, and hope to come out on the other side either a better writer or with the realization that I'm a schmuck in a writer's clothes.
Your 7k can be a single piece or two; short stories or novel excerpts. It's up to you.
Has the shotgun intensive forum opened up yet? I don't see it under the WW forms page.
Nope, I'm running behind. I'm working on it right now.
Also, one spot left!
An abbreviated forum set-up with two essays from Craig Clevenger is now open for viewing for the October Shotgun. Check it out here.
The forum will be be completed and open for comments and questions on Monday, October 12.
Please do not discuss the essays in this thread. They are posted as part of the class instruction which begins a week from today. Any questions regarding the essays should be saved and posted in the forum next Monday.
Thank you!