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<\/figure>A Watershed Experience<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Carl Frederick is a graduate of Odyssey 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, Odyssey was more than just worthwhile; it was a watershed experience. Calibration was its first function for me. Before I went, I’m embarrassed to say, I thought I was a good writer needing only a little polish. Well, I wasn’t. I did have strengths: ideas, and … um … er … Anyway, they were good ideas. But I was spotty in plot, weak in characterization and narrative description, and just so-so in technique. This diagnostic phase of Odyssey was crucial. The structure of Odyssey is two pronged: formal, solid coursework in the mornings, and round-table story critiquing afterwards. I needed both. I think most nascent writers could well do with both. I see many writers in the on-line critiquing group I’m part of (Critters), seriously in need of instruction but unaware that they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Odyssey is an intense six weeks. I came out less cocky then I went in, but felt that I could, in a rough way, tell good writing from bad. And I had confidence that the instruction I was given, and the critical-analysis skills I developed over that month and a half, would work for me—would move my writing from amateur to pro. And if Odyssey could do this for me, a theoretical physicist who’d never taken a lit’ course in college, just think what it could do for someone who didn’t write his stories in crayons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An important part of the Odyssey experience for me was the sense of community; I became part of a group of real, struggling, serious writers. Through the Odyssey alumni week in the summer, and the graduates’ on-line groups, that sense of community and camaraderie continues. We revel in each other’s successes and commiserate with the rejections. I value the supportiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I attended Odyssey in 2000, and had been ‘writing’ SF for about two years before that. Before Odyssey, my fiction publications could be counted on one finger (a short story in a semi-pro). Since then, I’ve been both a ‘published finalist’ and a first-place winner in The Writers of the Future contest, had two stories in the Phobos prize anthology (and another to appear in next year’s), two stories accepted to Analog, and a couple more stories in less prestigious venues. And I’ve just applied for full membership in SFWA. By SFWA standards, I’m a pro. Incredible. It feels like a dream. Sure, Odyssey isn’t entirely responsible for my breaking in, but I regard it as the most important factor. As far as my writing is concerned, the decision to attend Odyssey was the best decision I ever made. I’m very grateful for Odyssey, and to its leader, our leader and coach, Jeanne Cavelos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n