Worldbuilding and Writing

Rhea and I went to Dennis Foon's worldbuilding workshop yesterday at the public library. It was a two-hour free session sponsored by the Writers' Trust http://www.writerstrust.com/ . Dennis Foon has written a fair number of young adult books and done a lot of TV/movie scriptwriting. I've never read anything of his but he makes a living at writing.

The workshop may have been good for people newer to writing but it really was nothing new to me or Rhea. I was hoping there might be something on structuring or other aspects that he considers in creating a world. We all wrote a couple of short pieces where he would set the scene by saying, "It's the morning after a major catastrophe. What are the feelings of the person, what were they doing before the catastrophe struck?"

So, it wasn't a waste of time and maybe I'll have a story out of it but I'm not sure it gave me anymore depth. I still want to find a workshop that will help me develop more, either depth in my stories or plots that flow better. Or both of course. I keep analyzing my stuff hoping to get the key to the kingdom. If I find a good workshop that might be my vacation time this year.