Tuesday, January 02, 2007

So let me ask you

I'm going to be doing a workshop for my local RWA chapter on January 13. Well, actually, I'm doing two. The morning session is Romance 101: People, Places, Plots, focusing on the basics of romance writing with an emphasis on characters, plots and setting. In the afternoon, I'm doing Goose Your Muse: Inspiration, Motivation and Imagination, which is aimed at looking at your writing/story in progress with "fresh eyes," to discover new avenues, to shake loose the cobwebs; the latter half is aimed at remembering the roots and reasons we wanted to write stories in the first place, to silence doubts, to examine fears, and to re-discover the joy of writing.

But I've got a bit of a dilemma. Which should go first when it comes to talking about inspiration and motivation -- the part dealing with the writing/work-in-progress itself, or the writer?

At this point, I'm leaning toward having the more general motivation/inspirational material at the end, so the session ends on an upbeat note, regardless of whatever troubles people are having with their individual stories.

But let me ask you: If you were attending a session about inspiration and motivation, would you like to focus on the actual writing/story you're telling first, and then finding inspiration and motivation for yourself, as a writer (as I'm thinking), or vice versa? Would you rather start with the general, then focus more on the story/writing in progress?

For more info about the workshops, go here.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Personally I like to go from general to specific. What are the principles and then how to apply them. That way I'm able to wrap my mind around everything and apply it to my own process.

I can't wait for the workshop!