Day 4

502 words.

I was tired tonight and the words came anyway. Maybe those people who suggest writing every day are right. Still crazy, however.

My friend Diane Nelson asked what else came in my recent Vermont packet. Besides the sample schedule with the days packed with workshops, seminars and lectures, there was a sample list of lectures with brief descriptions. There was also a booklet with advice on how to prepare for the residency. This included suggestions such as reading recent work by the faculty and how to dress for winter in Vermont.

A couple of forms were in the packet too, including one asking for copies of immunization records. I was supposed to show proof that I'd had two separate measles vaccinations. I found my childhood info easily enough, but had I ever gotten a second one?

When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, "Check your Army records." Sure enough, in the "Welcome station" at basic training in January 1995, they gave me a needleless blast in the arm that included a measles vaccination. And I had the record to prove it. Guess that painful experience (the whole Army Reserve service, not just the shot) has been of some use after all.

Today I received another Vermont College envelope. It included a housing form and a form to send back with up to 20 pages of a novel (or picture books, but I'm sending a novel) for critique. The letter said to list people I know on the housing form. I only know one person, and according to her blog, she's a loud snorer. I can jab my husband with an elbow when he snores. I don't think a roommate would like that. So I'm not listing her. Besides, she probably has a regular roomie anyway. I'll just leave it up to fate.

As for the novel excerpt, the staff takes great pains to urge students not to send stuff that's polished or that no longer reflects our skills. The point is, of course, to get feedback for revising. This seems obvious to me, but maybe that's because I've been in critique groups for years. There are bound to be some students who've never been critiqued before.

The piece for critique is due later this month. Then Vermont copies and binds them together and ships them back to us students to read before the residency. They'll put us in groups of 10-12, so I presume I'll only be reading stuff from my own groupie.