riot

csssa writing 17

[peachpoem]

Another question, haha... I've heard people talking about a facebook group, do you know if there's one for creative writing this year? Also, I'm not going to arrive until 3:30 so I'm stressed about registration. I really want to sign up for all the field trips, is it best to do that first? How long does dorm registration take?

i’m going for film this year so i’m not too sure about what’s going on with cw but there was a facebook group when i was there (you meet people regardless so don’t stress!). the field trips didn’t fill up super fast (my friend who arrived around 2ish last year got spots in everything) but definitely go to that line first if that is a priority to you. i’d suggest doing department check in first in general and then doing everything in the order you’d prefer. as for dorms, it took me about 5 minutes because i was one of the first ones there. it’s a lot less hectic than the main building stuff so don’t sweat it (even though it’s gonna be 110 degrees tomorrow ahahah)

[peachpoem]

csssa registration tips!

csssa 2018 starts tomorrow!!! yikes!! here are a few tips for everyone who’s pressed about registration day (i feel u omg)

1) like the pamphlet says: u DONT have to do everything in order! it’s best to check in with ur department first to get everything underway but other than that you’re good

2) the meds line does get pretty long. if ur someone who has a lot of medication to drop off, it’s best to do that as one of the first things. just follow the pink signs down with ur parents! (side note: you DONT need to go to the meds line if you have over the counter stuff. it’s only for prescription!)

3) it’s a good idea to get to the dorms early so u can dump all of your stuff and feel at ease with the living situation. you’ll meet your RA and get your key then but won’t know your roommates until they all just show up in your room lol

4) the ID and photo line will be long but don’t sweat it. it does go fast and if you’ve dropped off ur meds/done housing before the line, you shouldn’t feel rushed

5) the department registration, ID, field trip paying (CASH ONLY!!!!!!), and meds station all take place in the main building which is the one with the iconic blue Cal Arts wall. for dorms and housing, you’re going to walk to your right (if you’re facing the blue wall from the parking lot) to Chouinard Hall. it’s a small walk but you’re gonna want to bring your luggage with u because of the heat

6) get there as soon as u can! a lot of people will show up at 9 so it might feel overwhelming, but it’s worth it. i got there at 9:30 last year and was all checked in by 12 so i had plenty of time to run to target/Von’s and get all the things i forgot before the opening speech and stuff

feel free to DM/ask me any questions u have about registration! i’m going for film this year so if u see me around feel free to say hi lol

[peachpoem]

I'm going to csssa 2018 and am trying to figure out what to bring (even though there is already a packing list, I know.) Do the dorms have ac? Is it good ac? What about bathroom toiletries? Does the staff provide stuff like toilet paper, soap, etc every week when they clean it? Thanks, and can't wait to meet everyone Saturday!

yes! the dorms do have AC, but it’s really helpful to bring a fan because it will still be HOT! the staff does provide toilet paper and stuff but bring your own soap and shampoo and shower supplies. if you forget something, don’t stress bc there are places close by to get them!!!

[taco-bell-rey]

straight dating: We have been talking for a few months and I think we are officially going out.

gays dating: this is Adam i met him 2 hours ago at H&M and he is the one :)

[glitter6ug-deactivated20190325]

lesbians dating: we have been best friends for four years

[palindromic-geek]

Houses Bedrooms

Hufflepuff:

The plant thing is kinda true / they need pictures of their friends and family / a corkboard with memories of good days, photographs, tickets / lots of knick-knacks on every surface / they need plenty of blankets and pillows to make it cosy

Ravenclaw: 

They have their CDs arranged in alphabetical order / books are ordered by colour / they like to have their favourite films on display / probably looks like chaos, but they know where everything is / definitely have had glow-in-the-dark stars on their ceiling at some point

Gryffindor:

Feel low if their walls aren’t painted their favourite colour / no colour scheme, but it looks fun / posters of their favourite bands on the walls / the original floordrobe pioneers / messy, but unlike Ravenclaw they don’t know where their stuff is

Slytherin:

Their room is their sanctuary / black-out curtains / candles for aesthetic, but probably never light them / probably have some semi-precious stones somewhere / still have their childhood stuffed toys

[peachpoem]

hello! sorry to bother you, but i recently applied for CSSSA’s creative writing and i was reading though a lot of posts and freaking out about the possibility of rejection. i read through some applications and they seem so much better and more intricate compared to mine, although i already submitted my application, do you have any tips that you’d give for anyone applying? (in case i get rejected and want to apply again next year)!

hi hello!

dude, i feel your situation so much. it’s so easy to think that your application is hot garbage compared to other ones, but that’s just because (cliche) you’re the hardest on your own work. 

that being said: my tips to someone who is applying to cw are to write what you know in ways that others don’t. cryptic, but let me explain.

the biggest leg up you have are your experiences because nobody else can write about those things. maybe i’m biased because i write mostly nonfiction so this is what i know best, but drawing from your own experiences always helps to make a well rounded set of characters and plot. even if i was writing fictional pieces, i’d still take inspiration from the ways that i interpret things to be sure that what i was producing was 100% authentic to me. when you master your own writing style and learn how to draw from your experiences, you’re able to create amazing pieces that sound genuine even if they’re fake.

another general tip i have for cw is to push all the boundaries you can. everyone can write a story about 2 people meeting in a cafe or a nasty break up, so why bother writing something like that when you’re an individual person who can write something that’s, again, unique to you? 

all being said, cw is really what you put in is what you get out, so as long as you try your absolute best on everything you produce, you should be fine. just be authentic to yourself and don’t compromise your style and ideas for anything! 

[peachpoem]

if love simon was a straight movie so many more people would be into it and thats the inequali-tea

[mindflamer]

hey buddy hey pal i don’t give two shits if you hate love simon or think it’s boring cause my gay ass did not sit through a thousand straight rom coms and bunches of tragic depressing bury your gays dumpster fires to have you dump all over the first gay happy ending rom com i’ve ever seen just cause it’s not ~deep~ enough for u

[juliakaze]

“I’ve sorted high, I’ve sorted low, I’ve done the job through thick and thin So put me on and you will know Which house you should be in” - The Sorting Hat

Hogwarts house + van gogh

[peachpoem]

Do you know if im allowed to submit digital art in my application for CSSSA? im panicking cause idk if can or not lmao

yeah i believe you can! i’m not a visarts/animation applicant myself but i know people who applied using digital art

[peachpoem]

HI IM APPLYING FOR THEATER PROGRAM FOR CSSSA AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO WENT LAST YEAR? like any instagrams or tumblrs i can message pls !!

HI YES HELLO! i do know people who went for theatre last year and i actually applied for theatre as well and got in (but decided go to for creative writing instead) so i can help u out if u need advice on your app! 

someone who i know went for theatre (we didnt talk personally but she was there when i was) is @albanly on instagram! 

[peachpoem]

kate coming out as lesbian while dating luke and elena coming out as lesbian while dating josh is the exact kind of representation that helped me come out as lesbian while i was dating a guy💖💕❣️💗💓💝💕💖💘💗💞💝❣️❣️💗💓💖💕💕💝💝💓💞

[peachpoem]

When all of your ideas for your CSSSA application just all seem too vague to do something with, too cliche, or just overall boring... what do you do?

if you can’t think of anything past the cliches, i’d suggest trying to figure out different ways to spin off the cliches. you could do the standard meet cute in a coffeeshop, but instead of a boy and a girl, it’s a boy and a vampire, or 2 undercover spies or something to make it more interesting. when you throw non-cliche elements into cliches, it makes it more compelling.

if u want to stray away from cliches entirely, i’d suggest looking at writing prompts and take pieces from different ones to piece together a story that’s looking to be told. how i got over my Cliche Writer’s Block was locking myself in a room with the same song on repeat for an hour until i produced something of substance.

[peachpoem]

hey omg can we talk about csssa film??? I tried to message you but it didn’t work lol

YES. HI. LETS TALK!!!!!!! 

[peachpoem]

casually just reapplied to csssa for film this year! if anyone wants to talk about apps and S T R E S S or just needs advice, i went to csssa last year for creative writing and love talking about it 

[muirin007]

Do you ever see people whose faces echo another era? I’ve seen women with the round faces, sparse brows and high foreheads of medieval illuminated manuscripts. Men with dark brows that meet in the middle, olive skin, strong noses and jaws–Byzantine men, ghosts of Constantine, reanimated faces from the Fayum Mummy Portraits. Women with soft figures and the large eyes and prim, petaled mouths of the 19th century. Grizzled men whose brows predicate their gaze, whose wrinkles track into their thick beards and read like topographical maps of hardship and intensity–the wanderer, the poet; Whitman, Tolstoy, Carlyle.  Faces sculpted into the perfect, deified symmetry of the pharaohs–almond eyes, full lips, self-assurance 3,000 years in the making staring at you at a stoplight.   Plump, curved white wrists curled over purse handles in the waiting room and you think Versailles, Madame Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great. Wide cheek bones, courage and sorrow in the scrunched face of the old man in line behind you and it’s Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Tecumseh. Reddened skin, thick forearms, hair and beard and brows burned by the cold into a reddish corn silk and you think Odin, the forge and the hammer and skin stinging from the salt of the ocean. Virginia Woolf’s quiet brand of gaunt frankness surveys you in passing in the parking lot. Queen Victoria’s heavy-lidded stare and beaked nose are firmly, uncannily fixed on a sixth-grade classmate’s face. Renaissance voluptuousness on the boardwalk by the beach. Boticelli’s caramel androgyny in a youth smoking on a bench outside the mall. Jazz age looseness spurs the tripping gait of the man who watches you paint with his hands in his pockets, and he smiles a Sammy Davis Jr. smile and tells you that you look familiar, that he’s sure he’s seen you somewhere before, but he doesn’t know where or when.

[peachpoem]

Hi I saw your post about csssa and was wondering if you were out of state or in state? Bc I really want to go for animation, but don't feel like I could get in, especially being out of state. Also I know you did creative writing not a visual art, but did you feel like it was a valuable experience for college and stuff?

(wow this is late im so sorry) 

i was in state! i know a few people who applied for animation out of state and it is one of the more Competitive disciplines to get into, but there’s no harm in applying, especially if you’re super passionate about what you do. as long as you put in your best effort, i’m sure you’ll be 100% fine

i definitely feel like csssa was a valuable experience!! it prepared me SO MUCH for the college atmosphere and living on my own and just overall figuring out how to take care of myself without a super structured system that my regular school gives me. it teaches you a lot about your own personal preferences and gives you a taste of what it’s like to be at college (as michael fields says: one day at csssa equals three days at college) so its definitely worth your time!