Mystery/Horror/Thriller/Suspense workshop

So I signed up to take a writing workshop in Madison at the University there. I was hoping to get some help with a novel I'm working on about a serial killer. So when I saw the listing of thriller and suspense along with mystery and horror, I thought I'd have a good shot at getting some concrete ideas.

The professor I'd met in November at a writing weekend. He was knowledgeable and witty. Unfortunately during the mystery writing week, he seemed more interested in chatting with the stay-at-home moms and retirees than actually giving us any sort of instruction. By the second day, it was a little better, by the third a bit more. But with only five days during the week, we ran out of time for learning before I got much out of him. I went through his guide of curriculum he said he was going to teach, and I circled the things he hadn't covered. I picked three of them I wanted him to be sure to do, and asked him on Thursday. Friday he showed us the structure of a mystery story, and everyone in the class was writing voraciously and asking questions. I wished the professor would have done this on the first day. He was clearly smart and a good teacher...it felt like he'd entered retirement a little early.

I did get a semi-decent plot out of the week. He gave us optional writing assignments each day, and I strung them together into a new novel. It needs massive work, of course, but it could be something some day.

I didn't get much for my serial killer book, though. I've been working on it since I got back from Wisconsin. It's slow going. I wish I had more initiative or motivation or whatever it takes to get going.