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Longtime readers of this blog may remember my doing this fundraising event in years past. I’m at it again! Along with several other people (including, I think, Karnythia and Nisi).<\/p>\n
A write-a-thon is like a marathon except there’s no running, just writing. 6 weeks of writing, to be exact, that parallel the 6 weeks that Clarion West students spend in the workshop. Write-a-thon participants set weekly goals (like 6000 words\/week or one new story per week) and sponsors pledge money to Clarion West if those goals are met. I plan to revise and send out one story each week. I have far too many still in revision limbo.<\/p>\n
I usually add a bit extra to my efforts and use the write-a-thon to also raise money for the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship fund. This scholarship gives financial aid to writers of color attending Clarion West and Clarion. I think it should be obvious why I’m supporting this :)<\/p>\n
It may be less obvious why I’m supporting Clarion West, other than the fact that I was a student there in 2003. I have always counted CW as one of the best experiences of my life. I got 6 weeks to focus on writing, I learned a lot, and I was able to meet many amazing people. I didn’t really have the money to go to the workshop (it costs around $3,000) but planned to ask for financial aid and maybe even take out a loan if I had to. Instead, an anonymous donor paid my entire tuition<\/em>. I still don’t know who that person is or was (I have my suspicions); one of the ways I honor them is by doing what I can to give that gift to someone else.<\/p>\n The money that goes to Clarion West benefits all of the students, the money that goes to the Butler scholarship directly benefits students of color, so it’s a win-win.<\/p>\n My fundraising goal is $1500 total. As of right now I have $1240 in pledges, so I am almost there! I only have $260 to go. That works out to a little less than $44\/week. If 9 people pledge $5\/week or a flat $30, I’ll make my goal and a bit more. If you can’t afford $30, consider $10. Or $15. The amount doesn’t matter because every bit counts.<\/p>\n Go here to read more details<\/a> about the whole shebang and sign up to be one of my sponsors. You can also go here<\/a> and see a list of other participating writers. Not all of them are there right now, so next week I will make a point of listing some of them here (with a particular focus on writers of color).<\/p>\nAnd now a word from our sponsor…<\/h4>\n
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