2020 is nearly over (thank goodness)! I decided to try something and see how much I wrote this year – I felt like I wrote a lot more than in previous years, and so I wanted to do some maths and see exactly what that all amounted to. Here are the categories in which I … Continue reading My Year in Writing
2020 has been an interesting balance of both good and bad. On the bad hand (do I even need to say it?), we have the global pandemic that has wrought immeasurable destruction and hardship, irreversibly changed the world of education forever, and this year my wife lost both her job and her grandmother. On a … Continue reading Balancing Writing and Teaching
a short story by Jacob Ryckman The helicopter flew low over the corn fields, the wind from the rotors bending the stalks down to the cold, hard earth. The sun hung low over the horizon, slowly descending the world into darkness. The captain’s breath fogged in front of him, the icy temperatures forcing him and … Continue reading The Hunter
Chapter One The man’s eyes snapped open as a harsh breath filled his lungs with bitter, stale air. His blood was pumping, and he raised his fists in preparation to fight… Nothing. That was all he could see in front of him. Nothing. No light. Just darkness. He struggled to lift himself off the ground, … Continue reading The Gap In The Door
A short story by Jacob Ryckman The senator was walking through the town square when he was struck. The protestor had intended the tomato to smash against his face, hoping that it would cause him great disgrace and humiliation, but miscalculated his throw, and so the vegetable merely splattered against the senator’s briefcase. The senator’s … Continue reading On the Way to the Senate
Hey look, a post that’s not entirely about teaching or the beginning of the year for once! Taking a break from all of that for a moment, I actually wanted to touch on a topic that is so important to me but I never really talk about: writing. I consider myself a writer. I’ve written … Continue reading The Real Daily Word Count (and why stressing over daily word counts is unnecessary)
Hey! Well, if you’re still reading this, it means that you didn’t automatically assume I was a sexist twat and thought I might have something intelligent to say. I can’t promise anything intelligent, really, but at the very least I can promise you that I am not a misogynistic imbecile. For starters, when I say … Continue reading “Strong Female Characters” Are A Bad Thing
Jacob Ryckman 