Alan Smith.

Guest speaker, Alan smith had a really interesting journalism background. I thought it was especially interesting that he didn’t start writing until he was 50.  Smith discussed his past and how he used to teach English in a prison and how he met some interesting people and heard interesting stories. “Never write for nothing” is something Smith said that really stuck with me.  He told our class to never write unless you are getting paid to and that writing for someone without pay shows that they do not value your work.  He wrote his first novel after earning his masters.  

He discussed how it was somewhat difficult to get people to care about his novel because he was 50 years old and people did not see what he had to offer. Smith referred to himself as a print and paper guy vs. a blogging guy.  “Being apart of the blogosphere is like being a tree in the forest, you’re lost.”  Smith stated that on a blog you are your own editor and that journalism cannot be trusted.  My favorite thing that Smith shared was “If you’re too stupid and use the apostrophe you are too stupid to get a degree from this university.” He talked about how important grammar is and he runs a pretty tight ship with his students in England. 

I found it interesting that he finds American college students to be more grammatically inclined than English students. He teaches creative writing in the English department at The University of North Hampton.  The students who attend that university have to finish college in three years, no exceptions. Smith did not speak much about blogs or blogging, but I feel like I really got something out of the things he shared. Above all else he was awesome to listen to and had a great sense of humor.