DargonZine
Volume 17, Number 2 |
Distributed: 3/14/2004
Circulation: 655 |
 |
DargonZine is the publication vehicle of The
Dargon Project, Inc., a collaborative group of aspiring fantasy writers on the
Internet. We welcome new readers and writers interested in joining the
project. Please address all correspondence to
<dargon@dargonzine.org>
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DargonZine 17-2, ISSN 1080-9910, (C) Copyright March, 2004
by The Dargon Project, Inc. Editor: Ornoth D.A. Liscomb
<ornoth@rcn.com>,
Assistant Editor: Jon Evans
<godling@cox.net>.
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|
Editorial
ast September, in the Editorial for DargonZine 16-3, I mentioned
that two of our veteran writers had taken temporary sabbaticals,
bequeathing several partially-completed stories to be finished up by
others. The first of those stories appeared in our most recent issue,
wherein Rich Niro completed Victor Cardoso's "Touching Ol".
We open this issue with the second such story, P. Atchley's "Sweet
Healing", which I had the pleasure of taking from first draft through
publication. This being only the second story I've had printed in
DargonZine in the past ten years, I haven't had much occasion to talk
about myself, so perhaps a little self-indulgence is forgivable.
You might well think that being editor as well as a contributing
writer would be an easily abused conflict of interest, and I'd have to
agree. During my initial four years as editor of FSFnet, DargonZine's
predecessor, I managed to author eight Dargon stories, four non-Dargon
stories, eight "featured author" columns, and seven other articles. That
was partly to ensure that we had enough material to keep the nascent
magazine in print, but I must admit that I probably took advantage of
the fact that I was also the editor. Like every writer, I look back at
my early works and cringe at the flaws I see.
In those early days, I proofread every submission and gave
suggestions and corrections to contributors, but there was no peer
review. Although I had founded FSFnet to get feedback from other writers
on my work, I rarely had anyone else look at my stories before I
distributed them in issues.
It wasn't until I turned the reins of DargonZine over to Dafydd
(whom I'll return to in just a moment) that he asked all Dargon Project
writers to participate in the review process, so that the effort of
critiquing forthcoming stories wasn't solely on the shoulders of the
editor. More importantly, writers began talking to and learning from one
another, whereas under my own leadership all communication had been
between each writer and the editor. With much more feedback and many
more viewpoints represented, the quality of DargonZine's stories rapidly
improved. Furthermore, the increased contact fostered a real sense of
community in the group, and many lasting friendships have been made at
our annual Writers' Summits.
Thus, when I returned to DargonZine after six years' absence,
things had changed quite a bit. Now, even my stories had to go through
several rounds of peer review, and that dramatically changed how I
approached my writing. I began concentrating on quality rather than
quantity, and I had much the same experience as every other Dargon
Project writer: it can be very difficult to consider everyone's
criticism, but in the end my stories have been far better for it, and
I've learned a lot. Unlike my prolific early days, "Sweet Healing" will
be only my fifth story to appear in DargonZine in eleven years, and just
my second story in the ten years since I resumed editing the zine. So
now, with the exception of these Editorials, DargonZine is no longer my
personal publishing house.
This issue concludes with the second chapter of Dafydd's "Talisman
Ten", which provides an interesting counterpoint. Dafydd was, as I
mentioned above, the editor of DargonZine for those six years when I was
away.
I can't say to what extent peer review contributed to this fact,
but during those six years as editor, Dafydd printed only one of his own
stories. That's simply astounding when you consider that he is by far
our most prolific author, having printed eleven stories in less than
two years before he became editor, plus an unbelievable forty-five
stories in the decade since he stopped putting out the zine.
The vast majority of those stories are, of course, the Talisman
novella, of which "Talisman Ten 2" is the penultimate chapter. When it
finally concludes in our next issue, Talisman will comprise thirty-eight
chapters and over 235,000 words; it will have taken us over five years
to print; and it will be an order of magnitude larger than any other
single work that DargonZine has ever produced.
Talisman is indeed a truly colossal achievement, and it all comes
to its exciting finale in our next DargonZine issue, due out around the
end of April.
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