Philosophical Quandaries #1: Why? What?

Now that the obligatory welcome is out of the way, the obligatory "why" statement.

The State of Texas (Great State of Texas) requires all high school freshmen to write a short story as part of the state exam. The short story must have "an interesting plot" and "engaging characters." It must fit on a page with 26 lines. It must also be written in approximately 1 hour.

So to help get a handle on that (I'm a teacher and will be teaching a writing course next year), this blog. (There's also a 26-line expository essay the freshmen and sophomores have to write, as well as a 26-line persuasive essay for the sophomores, but I'll let other hands furrow those fields.)

Most of the blog will be 250-word stories. This will approximate the 26-line limit. The plots will be interesting; the characters, engaging. I may fudge on the time limit, but probably not by much.

The rest of the blog will be writing quotes, tips, pictures, etc., as they occur to me to include them.

Enjoy!