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9 English Honors
Creative Writing Guidelines
Mr. Cunningham
Oct 23, 2014

Good writing is human writing. It is not about how many explosions happen, how many tears
are shed, or how many times Sandra glanced playgully at Miguel while dating Jason who was really
into Jada the whole time. Good stories are about the emotions we feel day by day: the complexity of
feeling during the mundane. We take pleasure in pain. We laugh at a good joke yet grin bitterly in our
cruelest moments. We are large and often at odds with ourselves. This is what it means to be fully
human and alive: to be complex, irreducible -- to be uniquely you. As Whitman wrote in
Song of
Myself
, I contain multitudes.
This next week we will start our creative writing workshops. You will be working in small
groups while learning to critique, praise, and write effectively. Our goal? We will be exploring the
structures of stories and how real human lives create dynamic, interesting, and affective stories.
Your mission
: You have to use yourself to tell a story. You will cannibalize your own
experience to create something worth sharing with others. Have fun with this! This is your time to
express yourself fully. Dont put too much weight, worry, or fear into this (I am speaking only of the
first draft). Let yourself go. Do not be afraid.
We have been using short stories in order to understand the elements of fiction. You will use
the skills we have gained reading in order to write your own short story. This means you must include
a protagonist, setting, introduction, trigger even, climax, etc. You will use a story from your lifen or
from the lives around you and fictionalize it.

WritingPrompt
Think about an event or experience that forever changed you or someone you know. Describe
the challenge or the situation: what was difficult, what did you learn, how did you change? Was it for
the good? Or the bad? How did it affect the world around you or how you view the world.
Your job is not to use big words but to use
common language
uncommonly well

Procedure
We will break up this assignment into three parts.
The Outline
a. You will create an outline over the weekend to be turned into me
Monday, Oct 27th
.
In this outline you will include the skeletal outline of the story. This will be in the
structure of the
Heros Journey (Outline Above).
b. You must also include...
Characters
Setting
Theme
Conflict

The First Draft

c. We will spend the first half of next week writing a rough draft of our story. We will be
using the outline you will have created over the weekend. This initial rough draft we
will be reading in small groups to those around you. We will critique and praise
elements we find fault with and enjoy. This feedback will be critical in your writing as
you create the Final Draft.
d. You will be turning in your rough drafts to me by Wednesday so I may return them
Thursday with my comments. Through Tuesday we will be having individual meetings
so that I may consult you on your story.
e. You will have Thursday, Friday, and the weekend to finish your story.
The Final Draft
f. The final draft will be turned into me
Monday, November 3rd
.

Tips
1.Havesomethingtosay
Thismakeswritingeasierandfaster.Whenyouhavenothingtosay,youareforcedtowritesentencesthat
soundmeaningfulbutdelivernothing.
Readwidely.Takenotes.Chooseyoursubjectswisely.Thenshareyourinformationwithreaders.
2.Bespecific
Considertwosentences:
Igrowlotsofflowersinmybackyard.
Igrow34varietiesofflowersinmybackyard,includingpinkconeflowers,purpleasters,yellow
daylilies,Shastadaisies,andclimbingclematis.
Whichismoreinteresting?Whichhelpsyouseemybackyard?
3.Choosesimplewords
Write
use
insteadof
utilize
,
near
insteadof
closeproximity
,
help
insteadof
facilitate
,
for
insteadof
inthe
amountof
,
start
insteadof
commence
.
Uselongerwordsonlyifyourmeaningissospecificnootherwordswilldo.
4.Writeshortsentences
Youshouldkeepsentencesshortforthesamereasonyoukeepparagraphsshort:theyreeasiertoread
andunderstand.
Eachsentenceshouldhaveonesimplethought.Morethanthatcreatescomplexityandinvitesconfusion.
5.Usetheactivevoice
InEnglish,readersprefertheSVOsentencesequence:Subject,Verb,Object.Thisistheactivevoice.
Forexample:
Passivesentencesborepeople.
Whenyoureversetheactivesequence,youhavetheOVSorpassivesequence:Object,Verb,Subject.
Forexample:
Peopleareboredbypassivesentences.
Youcantalwaysusetheactivevoice,butmostwritersshoulduseitmoreoften.
6.Keepparagraphsshort
Lookatanynewspaperandnoticetheshortparagraphs.
Thatsdonetomakereadingeasier,becauseourbrainstakeininformationbetterwhenitsbrokeninto
smallchunks.
Inacademicwriting,eachparagraphdevelopsoneideaandoftenincludesmanysentences.Butincasual,
everydaywriting,thestyleislessformalandparagraphsmaybeasshortasasinglesentenceorevena
singleword.
See?
7.Eliminatefluffwords
Qualifyingwords,suchas
very
,
little
,and
rather
,addnothingtoyourmeaningandsuckthelifeoutofyour
sentences.

Forexample:
Itisveryimportanttobasicallyavoidfluffwordsbecausetheyareratheremptyandsometimesalittle
distracting.
MarkTwainsuggestedthatyoushouldSubstitute
damn
everytimeyoureinclinedtowrite
very
youreditor
willdeleteitandthewritingwillbejustasitshouldbe.
8.Dontramble
Ramblingisabigproblemformanywriters.Notasbigassomeotherproblems,suchasaffordablehealth
insuranceortheMiddleEast,whichhasbeenaproblemformanydecadesbecauseofdisputesover
territory.Speakingofwhich,thewordterritoryhasaninterestingwordoriginfrom
terra
,meaningearth.
Butthepointis,dontramble.
9.Dontberedundantorrepeatyourself
Also,dontkeepwritingthesamethingoverandoverandover.Inotherwords,saysomethingoncerather
thanseveraltimes.Becausewhenyourepeatyourselforkeepwritingthesamething,yourreadersgoto
sleep.
10.Dontoverwrite
Thisisasymptomofhavingtoolittletosayor

toomuchego
.
Putyourreaderfirst.Putyourselfinthebackground.Focusonthemessage.
Forexample:
Youcaninstantlyanddramaticallyimproveyourblogwritingskillsandimmediatelyexplodeyourprofitsand
skyrocketyouronlinesuccessbyfollowingthespectacular,simple,andpracticaltipsfoundinthis
groundbreakingnewfreeblogpost.
11.Editruthlessly
Shorten,delete,andrewriteanythingthatdoesnotaddtothemeaning.Itsokaytowriteinacasualstyle,
butdontinjectextrawordswithoutgoodreason.
Tomakethiseasier,breakyourwritingintothreesteps:1)Writetheentiretext.2)Setyourtextasidefora
fewhoursordays.3)Returntoyourtextfreshandedit.
Noneofuscaneverbeperfectwriters,andnooneexpectsustobe.However,wecanallimproveourstyle
andsoundsmarterbyfollowingthesetipsandwritingnaturally.