%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