It should be no surprise to anyone who knows me that the Clarion Writers Workshop is a thing near and dear to me. Attending the six-week workshop in 2010 was a milestone in my writing career. The annual write-a-thon, where writers commit to writing goals and ask friends, family,and strangers to pledge money to go towards funding the workshop.

Saying “please give money” is something I do on very rare occasion, but this is something worthwhile. The Clarion Workshop is one of very few programs in the world for writers of genre fiction. Hundreds of students apply every year but only a handful get in. The instructors are among the most experienced authors in the field. Donations go to keeping the workshop running and supplying scholarships for students in need.

The write-a-thon runs for six weeks, along side the workshop in San Diego. It’s an act of solidarity with this years class of writers and, as extra motivation, a public accountability of my goals.

This year, I will spend the write-a-thon finishing my first novel. I’ll be writing, by hand, 30,000 or so words, and transcribing the results into Scrivener along with the first 50,000. By the end, I will have a complete draft ready to be ripped apart, revised and rewritten. I’ll even blog regular progress updates, which is more than I normally manage.

If you can sponsor me, one dollar or ten, you will have my gratitude and the satisfaction of knowing you’re making a difference in the life of up and coming writers of science fiction and fantasy.