I have so many exciting potential activities in the writing pipeline. It is making me nuts, because I want so much to get started on all of it, and I am waiting anxiously to see if I get into the NYU low residency MFA program. If I am not admitted, I will spend the year writing and try again for next year, but I really, really hope that I am admitted this year. My fear is that I submitted a writing sample from my old unfinished novel The Bastard, which I have no intention of finishing. It is also a genre novel that I am no longer writing. It is the best current sample I have, however, as my new series is not even fully outlined yet. My older work is well written, but it doesn’t have the strong literary appeal that I worry will be memorable and interesting to the professors making admissions decisions.
Additionally, I am going to be starting the 90 Day Novel workshop September 1, and I really hope this will help kick start my first draft of Compendium Book 1. I think this exercise will be a good way to spend September to November. It will allow me to jump start the creative process and get my novel entirely plotted out and the manuscript into initial draft form. That will give me a lot of material for the rewrite and continued refinement and be an excellent base as I start my MFA (if I am admitted).
Additionally, I plan on participating in NaNoWriMo. Again, this should coincide with the 90 Day Novel to a certain extent and hopefully keep me motivated through the rough middle portion of Compendium Book 1.
Finally, I registered for the AWP Annual Conference in Seattle. I may or may not actually be able to attend this conference depending on whether I get accepted at NYU. I fear that if I am accepted, I will not have time in February to travel to Seattle for the conference when I will just be getting back from Paris. My job is fairly demanding, and 20 days away from work for two years in a row for the MFA will probably stretch the limit for me. However, if I am not admitted, I fully intend to attend the conference and get as much information and help as I can to make myself marketable to NYU in 2015.
This is my current game plan, but I am on pins and needles regarding the MFA. I have submitted my application, and I am waiting for one recommendation to come in. Otherwise, the application is complete, and it is essentially a waiting game. Yarg!
About the Photograph: This photograph was taken at the Key West Butterfly Garden in Key West, Florida in August of 2010.
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Alia Luria - BLOG 