{"id":2601,"date":"2011-06-16T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/?p=2601"},"modified":"2011-06-16T12:00:20","modified_gmt":"2011-06-16T16:00:20","slug":"writing-tips-from-my-high-school-creative-writing-teach-coach-rick-ryan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/06\/16\/writing-tips-from-my-high-school-creative-writing-teach-coach-rick-ryan\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2605 Writing Tips from My High School Creative Writing Teach &#8211; Coach Rick Ryan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www-pmhs.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/teachers\/ryanr\/\">via my High School Website:<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.<br \/>\n2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.<br \/>\n3. And don&#8217;t start a sentence with a conjunction.<br \/>\n4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.<br \/>\n5. Avoid clich\u00e9s like the plague. (They&#8217;re old hat.)<br \/>\n6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.<br \/>\n7. Be more or less specific.<br \/>\n8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.<br \/>\n9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.<br \/>\n10. No sentence fragments.<br \/>\n11. Contractions aren&#8217;t necessary and shouldn&#8217;t be used.<br \/>\n12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.<br \/>\n13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it&#8217;s highly superfluous.<br \/>\n14. One should NEVER generalize.<br \/>\n15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.<br \/>\n16. Don&#8217;t use no double negatives.<br \/>\n17. Eschew ampersands &amp; abbreviations, etc.<br \/>\n18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.<br \/>\n19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.<br \/>\n20. The passive voice is to be ignored.<br \/>\n21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.<br \/>\n22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.<br \/>\n23. Kill all exclamation points!!!<br \/>\n24. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.<br \/>\n25. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas.<br \/>\n26. Use the apostrophe in it&#8217;s proper place and omit it when its not needed.<br \/>\n27. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, &#8220;I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.&#8221;<br \/>\n28. If you&#8217;ve heard it once, you&#8217;ve heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole. Not one writer in a million can use it correctly.<br \/>\n29. Puns are for children, not groan readers.<br \/>\n30. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.<br \/>\n31. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.<br \/>\n32. Who needs rhetorical questions?<br \/>\n33. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. And finally&#8230;<br \/>\n34. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This man taught me a lot back then and I was inspired in many ways. This list is still very relevant to writers at any level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"via my High School Website: 1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects. 2. Prepositions are not words&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-linked","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-FX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8650,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2022\/01\/13\/i-am-a-writer-part-2-365-days-of-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":0},"title":"I am a Writer Part 2 &#8211; 365 Days of Words","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"To piggyback on my post from 2020 about my anxiety on how often I blog, I decided to measure how much I write even if it\u2019s not being published here. One year ago, I installed WordCounter. This MacOS MenuBar app synchronizes via iCloud between my iMac and MacBook Pro and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WordCounter for MacOS 2021","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51818391877_02b02de88e_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51818391877_02b02de88e_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51818391877_02b02de88e_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51818391877_02b02de88e_b.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":924,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/08\/03\/being-a-better-writer1\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 Being A Better Writer","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I was chatting on Ustream with a few friends on Saturday when a young man recognized me as he follows me on Twitter and reads my blog posts on TheAppleBlog. He wanted to ask me a few things so I gave him my email. Side-Note: My email is adam@adam-jackson.net. Terrible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Thoughts","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5456,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/linked-anywhere-but-medium\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":2},"title":"Linked: &#8220;Anywhere but Medium&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"February 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"via Dave Winer\u2019s Scripting: I guess the thought is that it's wasteful to start a blog if you're not sure you're going to post that often. It's something of a paradox, because blogs are not large things on the storage devices of the hosting companies. If they're doing it right,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Linked&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8479,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2021\/03\/09\/technology-wordcounter-for-mac\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":3},"title":"Technology: WordCounter for Mac","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As 2020 came to a close, I wanted to do more measuring. Lifelogging as some call it. I wanted to understand more about my work habits, my time sinks and maybe look how I can improve and maybe find areas where I can actually simplify my efforts. Maybe I spend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CleanShot-2021-03-09-at-18.47.59.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12048,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/09\/life-dyslexia\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":4},"title":"Life: Dyslexia","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"May 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I am dyslexic. 10% of the world is like me so not very special but for this post, I\u2019m actually not here to talk about Dyslexia among general populous but about my moment of discovering this about myself which then lead to a multi-day rabbit hole of self-discovery because I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Life&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"1995 Adam Leeds Alabama 01","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1995.Adam_.Leeds-Alabama.01-scaled.webp?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":802,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/02\/19\/lets-put-a-few-things-in-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":5},"title":"\u2605 Let&#8217;s Put a Few Things in Perspective","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"February 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I was chuckling to myself while doing my pre-writing preparation because as I jotted down the key points to illustrate in this post I realized just how stupid it is to write about the complexities and simple aspects of life on this blog using fancy big words and the tools\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Motivational&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Motivational","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/motivational\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}