Imagining Florida: A Place We Call Home

While attending the Imagining Florida seminar featuring Lauren Grauff, I learned that humanities plays a big role in cultivating novels for some authors. This particular author discussed how she derives inspiration from the world around her; the people she encounters, she derives character designs from actresses from countries like Italy, and finds inspiration for her own works through other authors. These array of methods that she mentioned throughout her talk demonstrates how humanities affect the works of literature and other arts we encounter.

A current dweller in Gainesville, FL she explained how at first she despised the area, having never been in the humid environment that Florida tends to have. She further explained how she is an introverted person and when writing a novel, she has a tendency to lock herself away, preferring to focus entirely on her work. She seemed to be a ‘big picture’ kind of person, she has an array of ideas for multiple stories however they do not come to fruition because she feels as though she does not know enough about the topic or the experiences involved in her ideas to give the story justice and waits until she has experienced enough in order to write an effective, justifiable story.

She is a very inspirational person, encouraging others to “dream big” and not narrow their views on the world. She encourages others to seek knowledge and to try as hard as they can to become who they wish to be. Overall, she opened up the fact that writing a novel is not simply ideas and words, but also the inspiration behind it; the movies, art, or fellow authors; the humanities.