2021 Applicants Forum

[pattycat]

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?

[KZK]

I'm curious if anyone is applying to a low-res program? I didn't for my first round, as funding is pretty dismal for low-res programs, but am considering a round of applications in the spring (pending full-res decisions!). Currently looking at Bennington, Lesley, Sierra Nevada, and Alma. 

[mrvisser]

Okay, jeez. I thought something was up with my computer, but I guess it was all of us.

[mrvisser]

7 hours ago, pattycat said:

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?

Nice job! I've been wanting to check out Cleanness. I've been staying pretty busy with reading since finishing my apps. I recently finished Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, both of which were fantastic. If you want to be intimidated by masterful modernist writing, check out Lowry, but I'll warn that it is an incredibly depressing book. Currently reading Lolita, and trying to decide what will be next after that.

[KZK]

8 hours ago, pattycat said:

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?

Congrats!!

I've been meaning to pick up Greenwall's new book - how are you liking it? I always save up some mystery novels for this time of year so am looking forward to end-of-year (and end-of-applications!) unwinding. 

[pattycat]

5 hours ago, KZK said:

I'm curious if anyone is applying to a low-res program? I didn't for my first round, as funding is pretty dismal for low-res programs, but am considering a round of applications in the spring (pending full-res decisions!). Currently looking at Bennington, Lesley, Sierra Nevada, and Alma. 

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.

[Ydrl]

I don’t know what happened, but the repeated messages aren’t my favorite.

This new person sounds similar to M*rshall, but if someone threw his posts in a food processor then tried to put the pieces back together into something coherent...I’m not trying to be mean, but reading through this person’s latest post is like looking at the concept of “Word Salad”...

[pattycat]

5 hours ago, mrvisser said:

Nice job! I've been wanting to check out Cleanness. I've been staying pretty busy with reading since finishing my apps. I recently finished Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, both of which were fantastic. If you want to be intimidated by masterful modernist writing, check out Lowry, but I'll warn that it is an incredibly depressing book. Currently reading Lolita, and trying to decide what will be next after that.

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. 

3 hours ago, KZK said:

Congrats!!

I've been meaning to pick up Greenwall's new book - how are you liking it? I always save up some mystery novels for this time of year so am looking forward to end-of-year (and end-of-applications!) unwinding. 

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.

[pattycat]

10 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

This new person sounds similar to M*rshall, but if someone threw his posts in a food processor then tried to put the pieces back together into something coherent...I’m not trying to be mean, but reading through this person’s latest post is like looking at the concept of “Word Salad”...

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

[mrvisser]

55 minutes ago, pattycat said:

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. 

It's quite immersive. When I say it's depressing, I don't just mean sad. It's about a British consul in Mexico who's deeply alcoholic, and it all takes place in one day, very vividly capturing the effects of his addiction and how it affects the people around him. That said, it's also brilliantly written, and does very well to capture a lot of human nuances, which is one of the things I most often gravitate toward in fiction.

Other than Housekeeping, I haven't read any Robinson. I know Gilead gets a lot of attention, so I'd like to pick it up at some point. Housekeeping is her first novel, and I found it very touching. Kind of a bildungsroman, but a unique take on the genre. 

[KZK]

8 hours ago, mrvisser said:

It's quite immersive. When I say it's depressing, I don't just mean sad. It's about a British consul in Mexico who's deeply alcoholic, and it all takes place in one day, very vividly capturing the effects of his addiction and how it affects the people around him. That said, it's also brilliantly written, and does very well to capture a lot of human nuances, which is one of the things I most often gravitate toward in fiction.

 

Oh wow. This sounds like a really moving experience for when one is in the right headspace. Putting on my TBR list! I also have Lila by Robinson on my shelf, perhaps a read for the new year. Curious - do you often read writers in order of publication? It's always interesting to watch an author grow! 

9 hours ago, pattycat said:

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.

Adding Cleanness to the list as well! And isn't Moshfegh's new book a quasi-mystery? I read and watch very broadly across the mystery genre (and into adjacent and sub genres like noir, procedural, etc.). Around the holidays, I like to save up or re-read cozy and "whodunnit" styles a la Christie, PD James, Knives Out, and Murder She Wrote (!) but I also have the new Tana French, Anthony Horowitz, and Louise Penny all waiting patiently for me. I'm also currently binging Shetland on BritBox which I highly recommend! I've had an idea for an essay about my relationship to the genre percolating for some time - maybe I'll use my few days off to explore! :] 

Edited December 22, 2020 by KZK

[mrvisser]

2 hours ago, KZK said:

Oh wow. This sounds like a really moving experience for when one is in the right headspace. Putting on my TBR list! I also have Lila by Robinson on my shelf, perhaps a read for the new year. Curious - do you often read writers in order of publication? It's always interesting to watch an author grow! 

I don't typically, no. I just thought the novel sounded interesting, and it takes place in the Northwest, which is always a plus for me. It won the PEN/Hemingway Award for best first novel the year it was published, so she came right out swinging!

[FairleyAlfy]

On 12/20/2020 at 3:27 PM, archiapelo said:

1. What's Marshall Goodman?

2. OK, OK. You beat it out of me. We should be learning craft anyway, or doing some to help our admission chances or writing. So it is important for an author to be aware that there always has to be daylight between what a character means and says. Sometimes you can characterize that daylight as "subtext." Only simplistic stories don't have the daylight.  

So, Cornell secretary "said not to worry about the formatting. All she cares about is the quality of the writing." The reader instinctively looks for the daylight and understands that Cornell secretary meant "we pick 6 students a years, and how much manpower do you think they give us? I get 10 calls a day from people wanting to know whether formatting hurts. Obviously there are no rules. I'm not reading an official policy. Obviously I don't know what the professors will really do, which will vary by professor. What I do know is you can find blogs from admissions officers who say things like "we try to put out of our mind formatting and the like." And frankly the easiest thing for me to say is "don't worry." "

So FairleyAlfy posts addressing mrvisser “You were right!” that formatting is ignored. Subtext “I’m trying to support mrvisser. I don’t really believe the issue has been abruptly settled.”

An exercise I was recommended to do is to take every dialogue you wrote, and write out for yourself the subtext. If that subtext does not depart far enough from the text, then rewrite the dialogue. With most dialogue the departure from text to subtext should be as far apart as in the above.

You really should do this check on any writing sample you use, this year or next. 

First off, I do not write dialogue for the most part unless I think a poem might benefit from it. I am a poet. The formatting was a minor issue. Grammatically and structurally, everything was correct. She did not think the error severe enough to lower my chances of acceptance. I am just OCD about my writing sample. 

Second, you have a similar writing style to Marshall Goodman, and it is weirdly coincidental that as soon as he gets banned from the chat, you magically appear with the same pretentious, robotic, and inhumane aura. 

Despite your sheer tendency for assholery (I'm aware that's not a word before you try "to teach" me about word usage), I wish you a safe holiday season and much luck with your writing. 

All the best,

Annalee

[FairleyAlfy]

I think the website is still having technical difficulties. I hope everyone is doing well! Hang in there! Keep doing things you enjoy and that aid in keeping your mind busy during this time of limbo. 

[Ydrl]

3 hours ago, archiapelo said:

If writing is understood as incoherent, it is a bad outcome. It usually means the writing is bad or the reading comprehension is. There is a style of writing called mosaic architecture. It is taxing on the writer and reader. 

Well, there are four of us telling you that your messages are incoherent. That’s not four of us lacking reading comprehension skills; it’s definitely you not forming coherent thoughts.

I don’t want to offend anyone with the “word salad” bit btw. I “word salad” when I talk sometimes, it’s part of my illness. That’s why I like writing, I can edit it before anyone sees it.

[mrvisser]

I'm going to avoid getting snobby about my favorite authors and how they attest to my reading comprehension, and instead say: You need to work on your communication skills, dude.

[Graceful Entropy]

On 12/20/2020 at 3:37 PM, mrvisser said:

There is definitely a similar voice there.

 

On 12/20/2020 at 3:38 PM, mrvisser said:

There is definitely a similar voice there.

 

On 12/20/2020 at 3:40 PM, mrvisser said:

There is definitely a similar voice there.

There is definitely a similar voice here. Lolz.

I say we move along. It's easy enough to just skim or skip past, not engage, and just focus on all the good most of us are throwing out to each other.

I'm not as fancy as yall, but I'm quite enjoying the calm, clean writing in Emily St. John Mandel's Spaceship Eleven right now.

Side question: how do yall put that little footer on the bottom where we can show which schools we applied to?

[Graceful Entropy]

eh

[mrvisser]

Just now, Graceful Entropy said:

Side question: how do yall put that little footer on the bottom where we can show which schools we applied to?

I think when you edit your profile you can add it as a signature or something, although I can't say for certain because the site is having issues and won't let me edit my profile now.

[Ydrl]

34 minutes ago, Graceful Entropy said:

eh

My current mood

[mrvisser]

1 hour ago, Graceful Entropy said:

Side question: how do yall put that little footer on the bottom where we can show which schools we applied to?

Figured it out! Go to account settings in the top right, and then you can add a signature. I just added mine.

[largeheartedboy]

1 hour ago, archiapelo said:

Mandel writes only commercial fiction, even though early on she worked for a literary fiction journal.

You obviously haven't read her earlier books, Station Eleven is an outlier (and well-written though it was a bestseller).

[Ydrl]

Y’know, I hate the fact that we downgraded from original M*rshall to a low quality, bootleg version.

[spacedumpster]

5 hours ago, Ydrl said:

Y’know, I hate the fact that we downgraded from original M*rshall to a low quality, bootleg version.

Ahh yes the store brand, M*rshall Okayman.

[spacedumpster]

On 12/21/2020 at 6:51 AM, pattycat said:

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?

Presently devouring Neuromancer because, as a massive sci-fi geek, it is shameful that I had not yet read it. I also just finished Girls Against God by Jenny Hval.