Aaaaaand … I’m back! We had lovely weather and lots of fun sightseeing while my best friend was here last week. But now I’m trying to get back in the groove with my writing. (If you deduced from this that I did not succeed in my “scene a day” plan during the visit, give yourself two points).
Last night I was rereading my YA Fantasy, and had one of *those* nights. You know – the ones where you read what you’ve written and think “There’s nothing special about this at all! Maybe I should just start a new project/rewrite this from scratch” etc. etc. etc.
This morning I was feeling a bit blech as I sat down at the computer, so in the finest tradition of writers everywhere, I procrastinated. Summer seems to bring a plethora of writing conferences, and I’d been wistfully reading blog posts about this and that awesome conference from which the bloggers had just returned. Then I discovered this series of videos from a 2010 presentation by writer Dan Wells on story structure, and voilà! I had my own private writing workshop!
As long-time readers will know, I am a reformed “pantser” (Dan calls them “discovery writers” 
. I think that’s the nicest name for “pantsers” that I’ve ever heard), so Dan’s 7 point approach to story structure is perfect for me. I have to know where I’m going with my plot or I end up having to throw out too much of what I’ve written when I backtrack my way away from the dead-end I’ve written myself into. Dan’s an entertaining presenter and the presentation is excellent – after two minutes I grabbed my writing notebook and started taking notes!
I’ve spent the rest of the day thinking about my story arcs, and I’m about to break out pen and paper to start revising and tightening them using this 7 Step method. Who’d have thought procrastination could be so productive!
Do you know of any other good online-videos about writing craft? I’d love it if you’d post a link in the comments. I’m looking for more topics for my personal writing workshop.
