Clarion Week 5: A Laugh Observed and The Happy Dance July 29, 2006 My fifth story went over much better than I expected. In fact, I think even the people who didn't like it, still liked it better than I did. I had worried that the story was too heavy-handed with the theme, but most people didn't even see it. Kelly Link and Holly Black both had very positive things to say about the story, which surprised me as well. I think they both gave this story the shortest critiques they've given all week. I'm not so sure this is a good thing as I'm almost afraid to show them any more of my writing now. Vince, Felice, and Shveta do the happy dance for me, because my hands were full with the camera. It's also possible their happy dance had nothing to do with me. At Clarion so far, I've done two "serious" stories. This is my third "humorous" story. Robert, Steve G, Michael, and Sarah dancing. Just over half the class found this one funny, which was a pleasant surprise, because humor is so subjective. I think everyone "got it" (why/how it was supposed to be funny; I'd never suggest that those who don't share a very specific, subjective type of humor-sense "just don't get it"), and only two of the the nays had a very lukewarm reaction to the story--which is what I feel I really need to look out for. Regardless I think I've got some ideas from the group on how to make the story work once I have time to get it to final draft. I'll have to crosscheck my notes to make sure I'm right about this, but I think it's interesting that those who enjoyed the humor in my first piece (the flash fiction I turned in after only a few days at Clarion) have not enjoyed my subsequent humor pieces at all. Which means I'm either really stagnant or really inconsistent in my humor style. After a long week, a handful of us tried to go to a karaoke bar (Fridays at Crunchy's, across from Archives) last night. As Brad put it, they were using a toy karaoke machine that you might give to your child. We couldn't find a table where we could see or hear the "stage," and five feet away from the singer, you couldn't hear the music (and her/his voice only sporadically). So we bailed and went to Harper's, and got some dancing in before bedtime. It's too bad. I'm a better singer than I am a dancer, and it's been about a decade since I've done karaoke. Decide amongst yourselves whether these photos were taken in the critique circle or at Harper's. Brad, Michael, Alex, Robert, Vince, and Shveta dancing. Thanks to Steve G for taking this last photo.