The deadline for Mentor is this coming Friday. I, for the life of me, cannot decide if I want to submit this year. A huge part of me wants to do it. A *huge* part of me. I would love to work with Sheila O'Connor. I would love to do a reading. I would love to be able to finally identify myself, finally, as a winner. And I think that my writing is in a place where I could use some "new" education....beyond Zoetrope and beyond Loft classes.
The question is, can the Mentor Series give me what I'm looking for? I don't know. I've heard very mixed things about it from participants that I know and trust implicitly. I don't know that I'm ready for Mentor, or if I'll get out of it what I'm seeking. Frankly, I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for.
And so I'm at a crossroads. I guess it doesn't hurt anything to apply, except that I feel like I'm not submitting my best work. I'm reading through "Advanced Woods" and thinking how crappy it is, how no one in their right mind would accept it, and yet it's my best work.
Mentor could do great things for me as a writer. I don't think it can hurt me. So, the logical answer is yes, of course I should apply. But there's something in me that, for the first time, is holding me back from applying. Normally by this time--the last three years anyway--I would have been revising and finetuning for at least the last 2-3 months. I don't know what's changed in me.
So, there's a poll---give me your thoughts. Apply or no?
3 comments:
You mean you want to add yet ANOTHER thing to do to your "Things To Do" list? ;)
Hmm...well, yes and no. I'll be taking fewer classes (two instead three) and I won't have a teaching overload. But, you're right, it will be another thing, and a pretty major thing at that. The main reason I'm thinking of applying is because I think I've been neglecting my 'writer side'.
Hey there. I also voted "no" because I think this is the wrong time. Wait til school is done and you're in your new career (with all sorts of new writing material). THEN you should go for the Mentor Series again. Otherwise, I fear you'll end up enjoying everything less just because there's too much going on. :-)
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