Jake learned how to skate at the early age of 3. By the age of seven, he could whiz

through the ice at lightning speed and swerve away from a body check like a whirlwind. They nicknamed him The Bullet. He was unbeatable. He was so talented that his parents believed he would be an NHL player one day.

But Jake refused to follow the rules of the game. He would trip his opponents with his skate, elbow his teammates to grab the puck, and jab his stick at the goalie. His opponents were furious, his teammates were frustrated, and his coach was disappointed. Jake was not a team player. He could not join the tournament, much less be a professional hockey player no matter how talented he was.

It’s the same with writing.

No matter how imaginative and talented you are, if you don’t follow the rules, you will not be a good writer. If you do not spell the words correctly, no one can read it. If your have no periods in your sentences and ramble on with several “and’s” in your story, no one will understand it. No matter how hilarious your comic strip is, no matter how thrilling your mystery novel is, or hair-raising your horror movie script is, your story will not be read if you don’t follow the rules.

So learn the rules. And follow them. (Oops, I just broke one.)

Challenge #1

Start each sentence with a capital letter and end it with a period.

Challenge # 2

Use “and” only once or less in a sentence.

Challenge #3

Don’t use the word “good.” Use fabulous, amazing, incredible,wonderful, etc… instead.