Write-a-thon Update
Write-a-thon Week Two
6,647 words (in week two)
One chapter edited of Perfectly Average
No submissions yet…. (That’s my big goal for Week Three!)
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This time last year, I was at Clarion West and we were wrapping up our second week of classes. The awesome Mary Rosenblum had just left, and we were waiting on Cory’s arrival, excited after our first round of critting full-length stories. However, we were also reeling from the theft of four laptops from the house we were staying in. It happened right at the beginning of the weekend, on a Friday morning while we were in our last class with Mary. Someone broke in through an upstairs window. Having your laptop stolen anytime is awful, and having it stolen from a writing workshop adds insult to injury. My laptop wasn’t stolen, but I felt almost as bad as my friends who lost theirs. The atmosphere of support and friendship in that house was incredible, and having that violated was so sad and scary.
While I wish the theft had never happened, what happened next was just as unexpected and more than awesome. Word went out to the writing community, and donations started pouring in. In a matter of days, the workshop had enough donations specifically to the laptop fund (that’s above and beyond what people gave to the Write-a-thon that year) to replace all the computers that were stolen. That support helped us recover from the theft quickly and get back to writing. And that support epitomizes the workshop experience as a whole…a feircely protective and close-knit community that is at the same time open and welcoming.
Strangely enough, during week two of the Clarion West write-a-thon this year, I had a bit of an unwelcome reminder of the theft. Two of my good friends had their laptops stolen in a home robbery, just moments after one of them had left the house. I felt that I could at least somewhat understand the violation and fear they experienced at having someone trespass in their home. Although the most important thing is that no one was hurt, losing their laptops must be upsetting on many levels. They’re students and writers, too. And for anyone a computer is a personal thing that we spend a lot of time with. A difficult thing to lose.
I’m sad to be able to draw this particular parallel. But I wanted to thank those same friends for supporting me in the Write-a-thon, even as they’ve dealt with the worry of this theft. Thanks, Harold and Nikki! And thanks to everyone who has supported me in the Write-a-thon with either funds, encouragement, or both!
Now, on to week three…