Mr.

McCullochs

Requirements

For Final drafts/Public readings

In creative writing

FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES WILL RESULT IN POINT DEDUCTION.

Requirements for your portfolio project or other special project MIGHT DIFFER, so be aware of
specific requirements.

FINAL DRAFTS
1) All work is to be typed, not handwritten.
2) Poems and short stories are to be SINGLE SPACED between lines, EXCEPT FOR
STANZA BREAKS OR PARAGRAPH BREAKS.
3) Your name, date, hour, AND THE TYPE OF ASSIGNMENT are to be in the upper
right portion of your paper.
4) Your paper is to have a one-inch margin around the entire paper.
5) After your personal information, you are to type a title (even if you are calling it
untitled poem). Font size for the title is to be no smaller than 16-point font. Feel
free to BOLD your titles. Remember that titles of short stories, plays, and poems are
to be in quotes, not underlined.
6) Font for plays, short stories, and poems are NEVER TO BE CURSIVE FONTS and
must be NO LARGER THAN 14-point font and no smaller than 10-point font.
7) Stanzas for poems should look like stanzas not paragraphs, unless you have
discussed your intentions with Mr. McCulloch. I do not wish to limit your creativity,
but if I ask for a poem to be in STANDARD FORMAT, please give it a uniform look.
Poems should look like poems.
8) Remember that all poems that are late are deducted 15% of your final grade. Poems
can be turned into Mr. McCulloch until 3:00 p.m. the day that they are due.
9) Extra decorations around your poem are welcome, if not distracting to your text.
10)
If PEER EDITING SHEETS have been assigned, remember to staple that
editing sheet behind your final draft.

PUBLIC READINGS

Having your work be heard is an important part of being an artist/writer. We dont write
(always) just for ourselves. Your thoughts/ideas NEED to be heard.
STUDENTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO READ THREE (3) to FIVE (5) TIMES EACH
MARKING PERIOD FOR TWENTY (20) POINTS EACH. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE
SPECIAL READINGS (SUCH AS SLAM POETRY OR PROJECT PRESENTATIONS).
You may, of course read more than three times and are encouraged to do so.
James McCulloch
September 20, 2005
4TH Hour
Poem Based on Random Free Write

Charcoal Valleys
(A work in progress)

Farther I walk
And harder it gets.
More I remember,
Blue skies,
Soft Autumn Winds,
Sweet Caramel Apples,
Echoes of Laughter,
All that is now behind.
I dont want to move
One more step.
The past behind is colored
With the bright red, yellow, blue and green crayons
The road of life now wanders
Into valleys of charcoal
Penciled with tones
Of bitter black and white.

Please note that the poem once looked like this.

The farther I move away the harder it gets. The more I remember
more clearly what was behind me. And there are days that I dont
want to move another step. It seems the past behind is colored
with the bright crayons while the road of my life continues to
wander into pastures that are charcoal and penciled in with tones
of black and white.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:
Poems do not need a RHYME SCHEME.
One of the key elements I look for in a good poem is sharp, crisp
images. Appeal to the senses. Is there anything in your poem
that appeals to the senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and/or
touch?
Note how for the most part that lines in most poems are somewhat
the same size in length. This is what I mean by a uniform look.

I cut more and more words from this draft the more I read it.
Where can you make cuts without altering the dignity and
meaning of your poem?