Today I start a series of free workshops on Wattpad (see below to read the opening of the first class and click on it to read the rest).  After the digital storytelling workshop I went to the other day, I was very excited to see a transmedia tale from Wattpad being held up as an example of the possibilities of digital publishing – Aisling’s Summer Diary.  It’s a mixture of text, video, web all based around a good, solid story.  So, enjoy the workshop, enjoy the story, enjoy the fun of Wattpad, and see where today takes you…

Welcome to the Wattpad Workshop Series!

These are workshops for Wattpad writers who want to be inspired and challenged. You’ll come away with new ideas, new techniques and, most importantly, you’ll generate lots of new writing. The workshops run every Monday on the Wattpad Blog and all you have to do to join in is read the post and get writing – post your writing on the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Thread!

• May 28th-June 25th – Ideas, Inspiration and Overcoming Writer’s Block
• July 2nd-July 30th – Character – The Pulsing Heart of a Good Story
• August 6th-Sept 3rd – Dialogue – Hear Those Voices On The Page
• Sept 10th-Oct 8th – Take It To A New Level – Fixes For Your Fiction
• Oct 15th-Nov 12th – Kickstart Your Writing – Trying New Things To Fuel Your Writing

Week 1

There are so many things to learn as a writer that it’s sometimes hard to know where to start, especially when that creative fire is burning inside and you just want to get words down.

The idea behind having this course came to me because I want to share some of the things I’ve learned as a writer (and, believe me, I’m still learning lots too) to make it easier for you to write all the stories, poems, and novels you can.

Every week, I’m going to post on some aspect of writing and finish up with a writing prompt. These first five posts will focus on where ideas come from, what to do when you’re stuck, and how to get inspired. So, let’s get started.

Tonight I’m going to a workshop on Digital Storytelling run by the SWG. I’ll see what I learn and share anything useful here. It’s certainly an exciting (scary, perplexing, strange?) time for writers, filled with opportunities to share stories in new ways and I’m looking forward to educating myself about some of all that.

One way for writers, published or unpublished, to improve as writers and as members of the writing community is to attend workshops like this, hearing the opinions of other writers.  Plus, it’s only the first or second time I’ve been out of the house late (it runs until 10pm which is late for me!) since my daughter was born nearly a year ago.  Sometimes writing time is listening time.  I’ll keep you posted.

I taught a workshop last week and together we wrote three writing goals to help us focus our writing.

Try it for yourself.

Goal One: What is a weekly writing goal that you’d like to achieve?  Be realistic and specific as you write your goal.  Perhaps writing every day for an hour is impossible, but could you write for an hour every Saturday?  Maybe a word count would be more helpful to you – could you write 1000 words a week?  More?  Less?

Goal Two: What is a writing goal you’d like to achieve over the next six months?  Would you like to send a story to a magazine?  Or perhaps finish a draft of your novel?  Again, be realistic and specific.

Goal Three: What is a writing goal you’d like to achieve over the next year?  If you’re telling yourself you want to be a bestselling novelist in a year, then remind yourself it takes most writers a lot longer than that – it doesn’t mean you can’t do it, but perhaps you should think of goals that help you reach your dreams rather than goals which might make you feel like you’ve failed if you don’t get there.

And remember, you can always change and reassess your goals at any time.  I hope they help you get out of a writing rut.