Zen immediately distinguished himself as one of the most proactive members of the HM staff by presenting me with a plan to overhaul his department shortly after I became HM. So far he has kept on schedule and developed two courses, Introduction to Fiction Writing (originally published as Writing Studies) and Combat Writing. Between them, this involved writing just shy of 4000 words of course notes as well as developing exams and extensive answer keys. I have received numerous comments from the membership at large commenting on the improvement in quality between Zen's Introduction to Fiction Writing and the course that it replaced.

Additionally, Zen has authored two reports that function as mini-courses in writing, including one on filter words and another on Glenn Gers' story planning technique. This is especially appreciated given how easily forgotten the SA can be when faculty focus exclusively on grading courses instead of promoting their departments and subject areas.

Since his last recognition, Zen has graded 42 exams with an average turnaround of 11 hours. This includes 10 submissions to the Test of Wisdom, the most time-consuming course in the SA to grade. In these instances, Zen gives extensive, actionable feedback to member-written fiction and then reevaluates the piece after the member makes revisions. This is essentially a private writing clinic available to any DB member on their own time and one of the best contributions the SA can make to improving a member's writing skills.

I'm delighted to have him on staff and look forward to his continued innovations in the Department of Writing.

Alethia Archenksova
Headmistress