Paul Griffin, author of this years nominated Florida Teens Read, “Breaking Blue,” came and presented his knowledge on writing. He spoke in the Media Center on Wednesday Oct 8. Many students from creative writing classes, as well as fans of his novels, attended the event. The media specialist Mrs. Franklin advertised the event to the students, saying” I went on TV (Wolf TV) and I announced that we were going to do it… I also notified all the students who are reading for the Florida Teens Read contest and had already read his book, and I emailed all the English teachers and told them to tell their students.” Many students were in the audience due to these announcements and the creative writing classes attended the event.
Before his presentation, Griffin introduced himself to every student in the audience. He then proceeded to discuss writing as a career, answering students’ questions about writing in general. One student asked how to get over writer’s block (the lack of inspiration to write), he then proceeded to answer the question with the person’s own personal experience. Junior Brittany Tinder said, “…he was really welcoming, and he was very understanding…the entire time he talked about things that, as writers, were really beneficial to us.”
Griffin’s visit differed from past author presentations, as he asked students to describe their personal story. It was clear that he wanted the audience to be able to use story telling in their daily lives. He had a student help him simulate a mock interview for graduate school. The student then told his life story display Griffin’s point about the importance of story narrating. Senior Fatima Maisonave said, “I think Paul Griffin’s presentation was different because he actually talked to us. He made us, or at least me, feel as if he actually cared and actually wanted to help us.”
Paul Griffin’s visit concluded at the end of the school day. Many students took pictures with him and conversed with him afterword.