Beth Revis, author, came to Olathe South Jan. 25 to speak to the Creative Writing class taught by Cynthia Roth.

Revis primarily writes science fiction novels, but also written advice books for new authors as well.

Revis also worked with the “Star Wars” franchise to write a backstory, titled “Rebel Rising,” for the main character of their movie “Rogue One.”

Revis talked to the class about her experiences in publishing, but also offered advice.

“She talked about the opportunity to write for ‘Star Wars’ and she walked us through how to write from our characters’ perspectives instead of our own,” Hannah Houston, senior, said.

The writing exercise the class participated in had the students look at a photograph of a pocket watch, and describe the watch from three different points of views of different characters.

The class then wrote out plot lines based on one of the characters they created and the characters perspective on the watch.

After the writing exercise, Revis allowed the students to ask her questions.

One common theme was questions about being original in writing when so many stories have already been told.

“[She told us] that there’s nothing new under the sun, so the only way to write something original is to tell a story your own way,” Houston explained.

Revis also discussed some of her writing traditions. One that the class asked about was her habit of killing off students she had from her teaching years in her books.

The practice sprung from killing off a particular student in one of her novels, and the student thinking it was funny.