Thursday, June 17, 2010

Master Story Structure with Nikesh Murali

The Mastering Story workshop presented by Nikesh Muralli and supported by WITS was a great success. Nikesh has a talent for both writing and teaching. Judging by the quality of the six hour presentation a good deal of research and preparation had gone in beforehand. It was a hands-on experience and as we went through the stages of presentation, by interacting with Nikesh we constructed a credible outline for a story. We were then able to apply the principles to our own work. Fourteen people came away with that crazed look writers have when with fingers twitching they make a bee-line for their computer.

The main focus of the workshop was on mastering the art of story structure. You can have a great story and engaging characters but unless it goes through the necessary stages, in the end it won’t work. By putting the correct foundations in place, the construction of your story, regardless of length follows a pattern the same as if you are constructing a building. In using the correct method to create a working outline you are saved the agony of doing endless rewrites. I’m speaking from experience here. My novel which took me eight years to research and write went through endless drafts. I thought I was finished with it two years ago, but knew deep down that something wasn’t quite right. It needed restructuring; the trick was to know how to go about it the right way. Writing like any craft has to be learned, as long as you have the gift of story-telling and the willingness to learn, the tools are all there for you. Thank you Nikesh, for providing me with the tools to make A Hint of Darkness a best seller.

Nikesh Murali can be reached at http://www.nikeshmurali.net/
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