Celebrate National Author’s Day with Florida Virtual School Student, Collin G.

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite activities is curling up with a book and getting lost in worlds of fantasy and adventure. Which is why I’m excited to write this post celebrating National Author’s Day. It’s a day to celebrate our love for reading and to honor the brilliant minds who create the books, and worlds, we love. One such brilliant mind is Florida Virtual School (FLVS) sixth grade student, Collin G. 

Collin has been a FLVS Flex student since Kindergarten – making the switch to homeschooling online from a traditional in-person public school because he wanted to work at his own pace, which is fast! He typically finishes two grades (that’s right I said TWO!) every year, so at only nine years old, he is beginning the sixth grade. 

And, when he was six years old, he wrote his first book entitled, “Chad and Brad Visit Collin.” 

The book follows two aliens, Chad and Brad, who are bored in outer space. To eliminate their boredom, they call their friend Collin (the author), to see if they can visit him in Florida. But navigating from space to Florida can be difficult, and Chad and Brad go through challenges getting to their friend. 

When I asked Collin what inspired him to write the book, he said that the book actually started off as a project in his FLVS social studies class. But then, his mom started to create these incredible illustrations for each scene in the book, and they decided it was something they wanted to publish. He also told me that his alien characters were inspired by his love for science, as he wants to go to outer space one day. 

In the future, Collin plans to write more books about his characters Chad and Brad visiting other places like Japan, New York City, and more. But, he also enjoys programming, and hopes to make a game like Minecraft or Roblox.

If you are interested in writing a book, Collin has some advice for you: start by creating a character and then really try to understand them before you write. Characterization is important, so starting there is the key to success. 

Plus, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! This year’s challenge is to draft an entire novel in just one month, with NaNoWriMo participants committing to write approximately 1,670 words per day for a total of 50,000 words by the end of the month. The FLVS Creative Writing Club has set a goal to write 1,000,000 words in the month of November and invite everyone to join them to help reach their goal. 

To participate in NaNoWriMo, visit the website and enter the classroom code based on your grade level. Middle school students code is JWMAYNHO and high school students code is VIZVSKMN. If you prefer to not sign up on the website, you may also write your novel and email your word count totals each Thursday to flvscwc@gmail.com. We hope you participate and have fun!

If you’re interested in making the most of the spring semester with flexible, full-time online learning at Florida Virtual School, FLVS Full Time enrollment is now open for the spring 2023 semester. Head to flvs.net/full-time/enrollment to get started. Or if you’re interested in taking individual online courses, FLVS Flex is open year-round at flvs.net/flex/enroll.