Des Hunt Visits NC

Des Hunt, the visiting author, came to our school to give a presentation of what he went through as an author and the tips and tricks of writing. Being a highschool student, I did not realize how much effort and work goes into writing a novel. Des Hunt explained how he writes a novel for the students, which include how he positions his hooks and how he makes the story interesting. Des explained to us that he did not start as an amazing author, instead he went through the same struggles and stages that we have all been through.

 His first book, The Last Tuatara, was given to 20 of his students after he had published it, and only four were able to read it. The 20 students told their teacher that there was nothing exciting to hook them in, and if there was there was not enough excitement to last the whole book. Des, being a chemistry teacher, decided to treat his books as a chemistry project. He needed to work out the exact formula to make an interesting book, and with his clever mind that is what he did.

I learned a lot from this experience, and I am glad that I took the opportunity to take his workshop. Having a hook at the very beginning of the story, near the middle, and the end leaves the reader excited to finish the book. Writing in third person makes the story more structured, adding an event to the time in the book makes a more interesting plot. That is only the few things that I remember. Des also showed us his chemistry he did, and how that related to his work. He did explosions with a barbecue lighter that he remade, some flammable gas product, and a container.

 The only trick that I did not like of his was how he would place the event at the front of the paragraph. I believe that It should be at the back because people enjoy a buildup of excitement, instead of figuring out right away. For example ‘Johnny got the puppy’ is so much better than what Days does ‘The puppy was given to Johnny’. Although even though I may not like his trick, It is whats helped him as a writer.