pattycat

I just got this for Christmas! I read the first chapter for a class and it was breathtaking. I kept writing in the margins “rhythm!” The way she purposefully varies sentence lengths to give some things melody and other things punch is just so so good.

Also, anyone else getting those submissions out? I sent out pieces to 14 pubs today! That kept the admissions anxiety at bay for a day.

I can’t wait to read this. It’s next up on my tbr. It’s hard to pick a fave, but the one that stands out is Lauren Groff’s collection Florida. I’ve read it at least twice this year.

My husband is actually more guilty of this than I am. He is constantly showing me houses for rent in Iowa City, Austin, and Gainesville. He's a positive thinker.

Welcome! Great list. And good luck to you, too!

Thanks for the rec. I just downloaded it.

The holidays have been a nice distraction from grad school apps. Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend! I’m currently reading Lucia Berlin’s A Manual for Cleaning Women. I also just received several nf books on writing that I’ve been thumbing through: The Paris Review Interviews (wow...Hemingway was kind of a jackass), John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist (quite the elitist, but a fun read so far), and Jane Alison’s Meander Spiral and Explode.

Agreed. I'm unsure what it is they were trying to say exactly.

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't think I've read a single thing by Marilynne Robinson--something I need to rectify soon. I'll have to check out Under the Volcano. I'm okay with depressing books as long as they don't immerse the reader too much in the effects of depression. I had to put down Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation because it was just too much for me. Cleanness is so so excellent. I actually burst into tears at the end of one of the sex scenes it was just so well done. Highly recommended. What kind of mystery novels do you read? I'm really only familiar with old-school Agatha Christie, etc. I've been watching the movie Knives Out over and over lately. Something about it is just so nostalgic and comforting.

I actually know very little about low-res programs, but if/when I don't get in anywhere this time, I'm going to look into it as well.

Finished my last app yesterday! I wish I could say it feels great to be done. But now I don't know what to do with myself. I'm starting a new piece this morning, so that should help. Also trying to throw myself into my reading list. Just finished Garth Greenwell's Cleanness and now reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke--two books that couldn't be more different. What is everyone else reading/doing to distract themselves from the anxiety?

Finished my last app yesterday! I wish I could say it feels great to be done. But now I don't know what to do with myself. I'm starting a new piece this morning, so that should help. Also trying to throw myself into my reading list. Just finished Garth Greenwell's Cleanness and now reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke--two books that couldn't be more different. What is everyone else reading/doing to distract themselves from the anxiety?

Finished my last app yesterday! I wish I could say it feels great to be done. But now I don't know what to do with myself. I'm starting a new piece this morning, so that should help. Also trying to throw myself into my reading list. Just finished Garth Greenwell's Cleanness and now reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke--two books that couldn't be more different. What is everyone else reading/doing to distract themselves from the anxiety?

Essentially your recommenders upload their letters to Interfolio and then you are able to link to those letters in your apps. That way your recommenders don’t have to upload to a dozen places. Only snags are that it costs ($45 for a year I think?) and some schools don’t accept Interfolio. It causes me a ton of anxiety to ask anyone for anything, so it made things a little easier for me. I’m applying to 11 or 12 schools and my recommenders only had to upload to 4 places incl Interfolio.

Did you use Interfolio?

I'm so sorry--that sounds awful! Definitely go to an optometrist asap.

I'm not quite done yet, but I will be in the next few days. I've pretty much been working exclusively on my writing sample for the past few months, so I'm really looking forward to just writing something completely new and unplanned. Other than that, I'm going to distract myself with lots of movies, hiking, video games with my son, and playing a ton of board games (which I collect). But come February, I know I'm going to be a total wreck.

Nice. I'm fiction as well. Looks like we only have 1 crossover--U of Florida.

Welcome! Where are you applying?

AGREED. That's awesome! Congratulations!!!

Reading through that thread was a dose of reality for me. This is my first time applying and chances are I'll have rejections across the board. But I'm fully prepared to give it another go next year.

I didn't realize that Dorothy Parker wrote poetry. I just went and read a few and they were just as sharp and funny as her prose. Welcome!

I’m originally from Indiana—also from an extremely conservative family that I am now writing about. But now I’m in the far north suburbs of Chicago.

That's a good point. I at least haven't spent as much time polishing my sop since I know they won't even look at it if my sample is garbage. ?