Guest Speaker... gave me some ENERGY

Just some thoughts on how the presentation went...


Al Martinez, a book writer and journalist, definitely opened my eyes back up to the industry of journalism again. When I first sat down inside of the room where he was the guest speaker, I thought to myself this going to be a long, uninteresting presentation. The reason for that is there was no power-point or extra stuff in the room for a demonstration. After hearing the introduction, I thought this might be interesting after-all. The only reason I entered the room with such a pessimistic attitude was based on the previous guest speaker I listened to the day before.

He definitely surprised me with his life as a writer and encouraged me to find the writer in myself.

First what fascinated me about Al was the fact that he stayed true to himself as much as he could. He used the narrative style to be more literary instead of journalistic because he felt information can be captured by good writing. He learned to write by writing and did not worry about the technical stuff. He was key about showing his readers who he was and tried to understand and know his audience. He said the essential part of writing is communicating to the audience.

After hearing all this information, I started to reflect on how I used to writing poetry and short stories in high school and the beginning of my college years. He made me realize that I lost myself somewhere. I used to be able to just sit and write. Words used to flow out onto the paper and I had published poems.

Al made me realize it is not too late to search and reevaluate myself and see if the person who lived to write is still inside. His whole perspective of writing caught my attention and hope that one day in the future I can find that girl who loved to write her heart out.

In all I thought he was a great guest speaker and truly made an impact on all those in attendance, at least that’s what I think. I love the fact that he said he is on a journey to good writing and that he reads good stuff. Maybe I or other people can benefit from his story and his perspective on life in the media.


In all, I have a new and increased energy for reflecting on my writing skills...