MARSHALL – Marshall Middle School seventh- and eight-grade students received some inspiration in the form of visiting author Kelly Van Hull on Thursday.

Van Hull, who lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the author of two books – “Tent City” and “Red River” – which are young adult dystopian novels. Van Hull shared her love of reading and writing with the 300 or so students she interacted with throughout the day.

Van Hull said she started getting serious as a writer at the age of 33. While the mother of six children has settled in to her dream job, she wishes she’d have started earlier and encouraged the students to write if it’s what they enjoy.

“In this life, we get one shot at it, so we might as well do what you love,” she said. “I plan to write for the rest of my life.”

Seventh-grader Daniel Smith thought Van Hull had a good message to share.

“I thought she seemed really experienced even though she’s really new and I really just liked listening to what she said,” Smith said. “I really want to be a writer, so that was a very helpful experience. I really like fantasy and Rick Riordan with his Greek mythology and everything. That’s kind of what I want to write about.”

Media specialist Nancy Thooft was instrumental in bringing Van Hull to MMS, where all the seventh- and eighth-grade language arts classes were able to gain valuable insight in the craft of writing and the process of publishing.

Thooft had looked through different sites, hoping to book an author, though she knew it was pretty late in the year to do so. While sharing her frustration with Abbie Boelter, MMS administrative assistant, Thooft found a perfect solution. As it turned out, Boelter knew Van Hull and suggested that Thooft get in contact with her. Thooft said she’d like to see young adults actually write for the genre since most young adult books are currently written by adults.

“I like that whole, start when you’re young because they’re looking at it from their perspective,” she said. “Adults are writing about young adults, so it’s from that third-person. Kelly is really good. And I like that she has so much for the kids. She teaches them the entire process.”

Seventh-grader Jack Pedersen said he was pleased with Van Hull’s presentation.

“I really like to write, but I’ve never really had the proper tips to,” Pedersen said. “I never really knew how to start, but thanks to this, I kind of know where I’m going to go. I like fantasy, historical, really anything.”

Van Hull explained the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing, as well as hybrid, which is when you sell the paperback rights to publication but hold onto the digital rights.

Van Hull had plenty of tips to share for the students and perhaps, budding writers.

“Read, read, read, and don’t watch so much television,” she said. “Jot ideas down in a notebook or in your smartphone. And do your best work because what you write stays out there.”

While she writes to entertain, Van Hull said the main goals of writing a novel are to have it make sense, show growth in at least one character, surprise the reader and to have a good ending. Ultimately, writers want people to read their work.

“What’s cool about writing is that you get to be the master of the world,” Van Hull said. “You can write what you like. My reason for writing is to entertain. And the best comment I could get is, ‘Are you going to write another book?'”

Van Hull suggests listening to teachers because they have a lot of knowledge to share. She also recommends reading the book, “Hatchet,” by Gary Paulsen. When asked, Van Hull also shared that one of her favorite young adult books to read is Paolo Bacigalupi’s “Ship Breaker,” which is set in a dystopian future. Van Hull was impressed that MMS had that book on the shelf.

“I’ve never seen it in any other small library except this library here,” she said.

The idea for “Tent City” was sparked when Van Hull saw a newscast about a huge natural disaster a few years back. An aerial shot showing all the tents where people were living got her thinking about the resiliency of people and their ability to survive in such degrading conditions. The book is set in the Black Hill of South Dakota.

“I thought it was pretty interesting, how she’s a writer and how she did self-publishing and everything,” seventh-grader Gabriela Salazar said. “It’s pretty cool. I like writing. There’s this app called Wattpad, where you can write your own stories, and I write my own on there.”