High School Comments

Writing novels is an exercise in solitude. I spend a lot of time alone with my keyboard and the words on the virtual paper in front of me. I’ll admit that if I don’t pop my head up once in a while, self-doubt can begin to creep in. 

Questions like, “Is this any good?” or “Does anyone really read this stuff?” or “What the heck am I doing?” are common. So, when I get an opportunity to go out to schools to talk about creative writing, I jump at the chance. And recently I jumped all the way to Virginia. 

My awesome niece, Samantha (who I wouldn’t dare call as “Sammy” in a blog—no, I’d never do that!) was able to get me an invite to speak to her high school English class. While I was up there, my sister-in-law had another friend who taught English at a different high school and I was asked if I could go there the following day. Which I did, gladly. 

It was a blast to talk with the students. My presentations are very interactive, and I got a lot of wonderful questions asked of me. At the end, I was given some nice thank you notes and comments from students. 

One thing I love about high school students is their honesty. I thought I’d share some of these comments for others to enjoy—keeping in mind that they may have taken some of what I said differently than I intended. 

And I’m totally cool with that. 

Most of the notes were very polite and thanked me for coming. A few students got a bit more, well, creative. 

“Thank you so much for coming and speaking to us. I had a story in mind that I wanted to write over the summer. I now have great, new ideas on how to go about it. Thanks a bunch.” 

“Thank you so much for coming and talking to us about creative writing. It was very informative, but in a fun way! Good luck with your books!” 

“Thank you for coming! You’re super funny.” 

“Thanks! It was very inspirational, do what you want and not care what others think.” 

“Dear Mr. Morgan, You are one of the few guest speakers I’ve actually ever listened to. It was fascinating.” 

“Thank you for keeping us involved because in most other presentations I would fall asleep. It was also very enjoyable because of your jokes.” 

“Never give up! Let other’s criticism drive you to show them they are wrong.” 

“Thank you. By the way, all your books are probably banned in China.”