Crash Course Videos – An Indispensable Tool for Writers

I just discovered the Crash Course videos on YouTube. Yes, perhaps I’ve been living under a rock–they’ve been available for a year or longer–but I crawled out just long enough to stumble onto them. I like to read about all types of things. This month it’s quantum physics. Last month it was Buddhism. But when I get busy, I don’t have time to pour my limited attention span into a particular subject.

Enter Crash Course. If you’ve got twelve minutes, you’ve got time.

Beyond their appeal to the time-crunched and the curious, these videos are GREAT for writers. If you’re penning a tome about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, then you’ll actually need to, you know, do REAL research. But if you’ve got a character who’s a history teacher and a Roman Empire buff who’s going to deliver a speech at the museum, these videos will help you nail the dialogue.

These videos are also great when you need a brief understanding of a subject–for instance: “memory loss”–because you’re writing a mystery novel that involves an eyewitness bungling. Do you really want to spend several days reading scholarly journals and combing through psychology websites? No, not when you could watch a 12 minute video on the subject. Genius!

Here are some of the topics you’ll find through Crash Course:

Psychology
World History
US History
Chemistry
Biology
Ecology
Literature

Give the channel a visit. I think you’ll like it.

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