English Language Arts
  • Home
  • LIT/COMP 10
    • Unit 1: Narrative Writing with the New York Times
    • Unit 2: Critical Media Literacy
    • Unit 3: Stunt Journalism and Research Writing
    • Unit 4: A Whole Lotta Drama
    • Unit 5: The Hill We Climb/Dear Martin
    • Unit 6: Marginalized People and Of Mice and Men
    • Unit 7: Ethics, Science, and Human Lives
  • Grammar and the English Language
    • Unit 1: The Basics - Words, Usage, and Grammar >
      • Unit 1: Common App and Writers' Craft
    • Unit 2: Rhetoric, Politics, and the English Language
    • Unit 3: Linguistics, Code Switching, and Register Shifting
  • Creative Writing
    • Creative Writing Syllabus
    • Student Publications
    • Teacher Blog
    • Course Readings
    • ISOs (In the Style of)
    • Peer Feedback
    • Unit 1: Mini-Memoir
    • Unit 2: Letters to Myself
    • Unit 3: Restaurant Reviews
    • Unit 4: Creative Short Fiction
    • Unit 5: Conversations
    • Unit 6: Our Voices
    • Final Exam
  • Advanced Creative Writing
  • English 3
    • Course Pack and Beginning of the Year
    • Genius Hour
    • Unit 1: Source Analysis
    • Unit 2: Short Stories About Us
    • Unit 3: 3 Tragedies
    • Unit 4: The Grapes of Wrath
    • Unit 5: Between the World and Me
    • Unit 6: Research Writing >
      • Stunt Journalism Research Project
    • Class Resources >
      • Grading in English 3
      • Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
  • AP English Literature
    • Virtual AP Lit Unit 1
    • AP Summer Reading Project
    • Common App Essay
    • The Bible Project
    • Women's Studies Project
    • Critical Literary Theory
    • AP Exam Resources
    • AP Grades
  • Junior Seminar
  • Senior Seminar
  • Race in America
    • Race in America Independent Study
    • Race in America: The Course
  • Contemporary Writings
    • Readings
    • Writings
  • Public Speaking
    • Unit 1: Memorization and Recitation
    • Unit 2: Political Speeches
    • Unit 3: Expert Speeches
    • Unit 4: Personal Storytelling
    • Public Speaking Syllabus
  • About the Author

Creative Writing Syllabus

Avoid fancy words. Avoid the elaborate and pretentious. Do not be tempted to use a twenty-dollar word when a dollar word is handy, ready, and able. If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every girl curvaceous, every smart kid a prodigy, then you will have a problem with this rule.

What is wrong, you ask, with beauteous? There’s nothing wrong, really with any word—all are good, but some are better than others. Your ear will be sharpened by reading the work of good authors. Until your ear can guide you, here is a helpful guide. If you want to use a really elegant, twenty-dollar word, be sure it is standing alone and lovely, in just the right place.
​

-adapted from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style (2000)

TED talks about Creativity and Creative Writing

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  • Home
  • LIT/COMP 10
    • Unit 1: Narrative Writing with the New York Times
    • Unit 2: Critical Media Literacy
    • Unit 3: Stunt Journalism and Research Writing
    • Unit 4: A Whole Lotta Drama
    • Unit 5: The Hill We Climb/Dear Martin
    • Unit 6: Marginalized People and Of Mice and Men
    • Unit 7: Ethics, Science, and Human Lives
  • Grammar and the English Language
    • Unit 1: The Basics - Words, Usage, and Grammar >
      • Unit 1: Common App and Writers' Craft
    • Unit 2: Rhetoric, Politics, and the English Language
    • Unit 3: Linguistics, Code Switching, and Register Shifting
  • Creative Writing
    • Creative Writing Syllabus
    • Student Publications
    • Teacher Blog
    • Course Readings
    • ISOs (In the Style of)
    • Peer Feedback
    • Unit 1: Mini-Memoir
    • Unit 2: Letters to Myself
    • Unit 3: Restaurant Reviews
    • Unit 4: Creative Short Fiction
    • Unit 5: Conversations
    • Unit 6: Our Voices
    • Final Exam
  • Advanced Creative Writing
  • English 3
    • Course Pack and Beginning of the Year
    • Genius Hour
    • Unit 1: Source Analysis
    • Unit 2: Short Stories About Us
    • Unit 3: 3 Tragedies
    • Unit 4: The Grapes of Wrath
    • Unit 5: Between the World and Me
    • Unit 6: Research Writing >
      • Stunt Journalism Research Project
    • Class Resources >
      • Grading in English 3
      • Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
  • AP English Literature
    • Virtual AP Lit Unit 1
    • AP Summer Reading Project
    • Common App Essay
    • The Bible Project
    • Women's Studies Project
    • Critical Literary Theory
    • AP Exam Resources
    • AP Grades
  • Junior Seminar
  • Senior Seminar
  • Race in America
    • Race in America Independent Study
    • Race in America: The Course
  • Contemporary Writings
    • Readings
    • Writings
  • Public Speaking
    • Unit 1: Memorization and Recitation
    • Unit 2: Political Speeches
    • Unit 3: Expert Speeches
    • Unit 4: Personal Storytelling
    • Public Speaking Syllabus
  • About the Author