Jon Evans has been with the project since 1989, and his philosophy about how DargonZine should work has helped him take a driving role in shaping what the project is today. Jon's leadership was demonstrated in his recent decision to accept the responsibilities of Assistant Editor. Typical of his enthusiasm for the zine, Jon jumped when he was was given the opportunity to run the 2000 Dargon Writers' Summit working sessions.
We typically spend about a third of our time in a workshop setting, and Jon developed specific exercises that gave us opportunities to share our thoughts about writing, talk about the magazine and its direction, and get to know one another better.
In order to accomplish those goals, Jon did a lot of planning and used ideas from a number of different sources. He had us focus on open-ended questions about writing such as why we write, the stages of a story, how much we know about our characters, and the difference between genre and setting. He also led us through several fun exercises, including trust falls, a spontaneous writing exercise, and some riotous improvisational storytelling.
Jon's enthusiasm and dedication have been a wonderful addition to the Dargon Project, and his leadership was evident in the success of our working sessions.
