%title RAWR day 1

# Administrator lecture

* History
* Goal:
    * Bring everyone together
    * Lean on instructors and others
* Structure:
    * Morning: Lecture:
        * In the drive, lectures are explained in EVENTS
        * Living schedule
    * Reading:
        * Monday/Wednesday
        * Reading/critique of stories:
            * Discussions just talking about stories
            * Critiques have specific structure.
            * Critiques need to be in before session.
    * Coaching:
        * Entitled to single session with each instructor
        * Aim for doing after critique
* Code of conduct:
    * Don't be a jerk
    * Conversation, not a shouting match
    * If something makes you uncomfortable, say something
    * Put TW/CWs on work (updated documents for such)
* Harassment policy:
    * If you feel someone's conduct is inappropriate
    * Let either the other person or an instructor know
* Feedback and complaints:
    * Lean on email - Alkani
    * Survey after
* Post event:
    * Survive the Crucible - very compressed event
    * Emails will be transferred to alumni list
    * Slack after
    * ReRAWR
    * 50% discount for [Archivos](https://www.archivos.digital/) tool - mindmapping, cloud-based, etc.

# Instructors' lecture

* Staff and Instructors:
    * Kyell Gold:
        * Been doing it for about 6 years, Alkani runs logistics
        * Weird doing it in person, hang out online!
        * BG:
            * Attended Clarion 10 years ago
            * Writing for a long time, hope to share
    * Dayna Smith:
        * Met Kyell at novel workshop
        * Lecture given elsewhere (Wiscon, etc).
        * Read "Hangdog"
        * BG:
            * Clarion 6 years ago
            * Mostly novels, but also writing for Lovestruck (app)
    * Suggestions:
        * Hang out in common room often to learn from each other, etc
        * Learn from each other, take chances
        * Stay in touch, use alumni network
        * The story that we produce will be a first draft, nothing needs to stay secret, don't worry about making it polished
        * All of us help each other become better storytellers - no one wins the workshop, or rather, all of us win it
* The Story:
    * One thing we will be doing here is creating something wholly new
    * That will be Th critiques
    * From Julia Rios (started at Strange Horizons, moved to Uncanny)
    * "Come up with something new, doesn't have to be long (follow RAWR guidelines), but it has to be complete"
    * Don't freak out - you get out of it what you put into it
    * Know what you can do on the fly, so this shows what you can do, have fun
    * Useful if you have a deadline if you're prone to overthinking
* Critique:
    * The better you learn how to critique, the more you learn about your own writing, let you critique your own as you work
    * The point is to help the author improve the story, how to make it more effective
    * Author is always free to reject a critique, but every critique is valid
    * How:
        * Read it through once to get a sense of the story, let it work its magic
        * Go back with 'red pen', what worked, what didn't work, where did we fall away, what was exciting, characters, what to see more of, what to see less of, etc
        * First readthrough shows where the author is going so you can see early setups pay off
        * First time, author just listens
    * Mechanics:
        * Make notes with whatever program
        * Written critique - basically an essay about feelings of story:
            * Was the story engaging? Was there a point where it lost you/you got bored? (MEGO - my eyes glazed over; red line through story where it stopped being engaging)
            * Story components:
                * Setting (add to the story)
                * Characters (interesting)
                * Description (clear and enjoyable picture)
                * Language (nice to read)
                * Dialog (flow, not *too* realistic, more like movie dialog)
                * Story and plot (satisfying, useful structure)
            * Highlight both good and improvement
            * A few minutes to read through essay during critique (or bullet points)
            * Instructors will have longer critiques
            * Critique story, not author (don't hearken back to other stories, etc)
            * What was intended, how effective was that
        * Positive, yet constructive:
            * even if it doesn't work for you, find positivity
            * Helps for saying nice things about your own story
            * Aim for 'improvement' rather than just 'didn't like it'
        * Don't try and rewrite:
            * "If this were my story, I might do..."
            * not "You should do this"
            * If multiple people say that something didn't work, they're probably right, but if they tell you how, they're probably wrong
            * Author can ask for that during dialog after silent listening
        * tally mark of confirmation is fine, don't need to hammer in a point someone already said ("ditto x" or "I disagree with x")
    * Receiving critique:
        * Be prepared for folks to tell you what's wrong with the story (compliments make it easier)
        * Take a lot of notes (make sure to write down praise, very easy to forget praise, important to have sense of what you do well)
        * Every critique is valid, but you'll never get 100% agreement, up to you to decide if you'll tweak
        * When brought into the discussion, that's when you can ask questions
        * From both sides, trying to make the story better, so accept critique in that spirit
        * If you're writing about something personal, let folks know if we're prancing around on sore spots
        * Feel free to write personal stuff, experiment, etc
* Introductions:
    * Alkani (they/he)
    * Dayna (she/they)
    * Kyell (he/him)
    * Makyo/Maddy (she/her)
    * Kiri (she/her)
    * Al (he/they)
    * We'll have a common room that's mostly w/o instructors in order to get some space to chat or work together (can ask for that)

# Assignment

* ASSIGNMENT: Read stories in drive (links/PDFs provided) for discussion tomorrow.
    * "Guide to Working Breeds" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
    * "A Soft White Damn" by Ryan Campbell
