GUNNISON–With a kind voice and a positive attitude, author Gary Hogg presented a workshop at Gunnison Valley Elementary on how to be a writer.
After writing 26 children’s books, Hogg decided to share his love for writing with young students. Why? Because when he was 10 years old, he was inspired by his fourth-grade teacher to write stories.
She saw potential in him and encouraged him because he had such a vivid imagination “as a 10-year-old cowboy,” as he called himself. “That teacher changed my life.”
Gary Hogg travels all over the United States sharing his love for writing and doing workshops at elementary schools, but he calls Huntsville, Utah, his home.
Hogg has been to Gunnison Elementary before. He loves the school in such a small town, and he said that GVES has some of the best teachers and the politest students he’s ever seen. He told the students about the importance of their teachers—how hard they work to help each one of them have a better life and how much they care.
While talking to GVES fourth grade students, trying to encourage them to become better at writing, he talked to the students about “playing your brave card.” He told the students, “Step out of your comfort zone, be brave, have courage, manage your distractions, be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
He also told them about writing from the heart, writing about something you love. He said, “When you hook your brain to your heart, you’re twice as smart!”
When trying to write about a subject, he told them to think deep, be descriptive— talk about color, the size of objects you’re writing about—the details really do matter.
Then he told them something I’m sure they never thought they would hear someone say to them: “Don’t worry about spelling! Write your story, do the best you can and fix the details later.”
Hogg gave them examples of stories that other students had written, being descriptive with color and size, and he told them to pick a topic or a subject they love and make sure they write about that only.
He shared a story that a girl wrote about a pink flamingo, and she had gotten very descriptive—the flamingo was hot pink with a nose long and yellow like a banana, and the reason they are pink is because all they eat are shrimp. He told them the more details you share, the more someone will remember your story.
Then Hogg gave the students five minutes to write their own stories of interest for him to read. After five minutes, he asked them to read their story and see how they could make some changes to get more detail in their story.
Then he told them to “play their brave card” and asked them to not be shy and quiet, but rather raise their hand if they wanted to read part of their story. Many hands went up.
Then he asked them to “use your too-loud voice” and read the first sentence of their story. He called on several brave students who had the courage to read some of their stories out loud. He handed out several compliments and remarked on the great job they had accomplished.
He ended his stay at Gunnison Elementary with an assembly for the whole school, where he shared some of the stories the students had written.
