Fall semester is over and school is out until the new year. Which means I've only got one semester left and then UBC will be politely showing me the door. Well, hopefully they'll let me out -- that is if I can finish my thesis on time. For the most part, it's been a good semester, although it has gone by rather fast for me. I took two classes -- Fiction (again) and Screen -- and looking back, I really wish I'd taken these classes first year instead of now. Both classes focused strongly on structure, and there are several little gems I learned I wish I knew before (okay, I did take Fiction last year, and got a lot out of it, but this year's focus so closely mimics Screen it's amazing). And Screen is all about structure -- specifically three-act structure -- and it's something I'm glad to finally have in my head. Years ago when I was fumbling around looking for ideas on how to put stories together, I came across three-act structure and thought there was something to it. Now, with a deeper understanding of how it works and what makes the action of a story move from act to act (a reveal of information that a protagonist must act on), I think I'm finally getting a handle on this whole writing stories thing. Of course I'm not quite arrogant enough to think I know everything, and I also recognize that I'll probably never stop learning, but I do feel my confidence increasing -- which I'm really rather grateful for. Now, with a December of no classes waiting for me, I think I'll take that thesis of mine (I do have a first draft on paper), rip it apart, and apply all the lessons I've learned this semester to fixing the damn thing. Wish me luck.