About the DPWW
The Dargon Project now has two writing forums:
DargonZine and the
Dargon Project Writers' Workshop. DargonZine remains unchanged as the
Project's vehicle for publication. The Dargon Project Writers' Workshop
has been added to allow new writers to hone their writing skills without
having to worry about learning the elements of the shared world or
figuring out how to integrate their work with that of other writers.
In the Workshop, new writers can write whatever they want and receive critiques from both DargonZine writers and their fellow Workshop writers. Their stories will be critiqued for the writing mechanics and story content only, since these stories are not typically intended for publication in the 'Zine. Once new writers have had the opportunity to write some stories and receive critiques in the Workshop, we hope that some will come join us in writing stories for DargonZine. We recognize, though, that not everyone who joins the Workshop will want to move on to Dargon stories. Those writers who choose not to do so are welcome to continue with the Workshop as long as they like, provided that they continue to provide feedback to their fellow writers.
Workshop stories may be set anywhere, and be about anything. The
stories may be new stories written for the Workshop, or stories written
before the writer joined. Workshop writers may even write practice
stories that are set in the shared world of Dargon, without having to
worry about complying with Dargon canon or rules. Stories that do not contain
any Dargon elements may be published elsewhere if desired. Stories
that do contain Dargon elements may not be published anywhere but DargonZine, due to copyright law.
However, such stories may be rewritten to purge them of Dargon elements and then published elsewhere.
The Workshop is run by Jim Owens, a long-standing writer with the Project, who also runs our mentor program. While writers in the Workshop are free to write whatever they want, Jim will occasionally get inspired to do some sort of organized writing activity. Workshop writers are not required to participate in those activities, but should consider doing so. They are a great way to get creative juices flowing and to stretch one's writing ability.