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• Dr. Jerz

  It has been 21 years since you wrote the seminal summary of IF puzzles (https://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/Puzzles.htm).

  What new IF puzzles have developed since?

• I am Claire Goodger, a senior at North Kingstown High School, and for my Senior Project I am writing a young adult short novel. I found the article on your blog, "Short Story Tips: 10 Ways to Improve Your Creative Writing," very helpful. However, I was wondering if you had any opinions on the boundaries of what is appropriate content for the young adult genre. This is in regards to things like drugs, sex, and any typical struggles that could be considered inappropriate for certain age groups.
  I would greatly appreciate the input.
  Thank you for your time!

  • Great question!

    I have posted a long response as a blog. https://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2019/02/28/controversial-content-in-ya-literature

• I am a beginning writer at 70 and would like to join your blog. How do I do that. Actually, I have written several articles that have been published in magazines and floor covering association papers. I would prefer to write fiction. Thank you for your time.

• Excellent guidance for budding story tellers. I'm following more or less all the ten steps you clarified, and highlighted through your blog, Mr. Jerz. And this article is really helpful for writing a 'good' story. The rest lies with the author for the real 'success' of his/ her story.

  One thought I want to share with you, sir. Besides all the technicalities you outlined so poignantly with instances and anecdotes, the story must have to be very very 'close' to the writer's heart.

• I do agree with you that students must have a course where they are taught to appropriately develop an argument, and I appreciate a lot that your resourcrs are free. As we have access to basic information sources I find also very important to have an open access to specialized information to improve our knowledge and skills. Thank you!

• I am a librarian at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, KY. I would like permission to include a post on note-taking: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic1/taking-notes-5-college-success-tips/ in one of our college's Learning and Research Guides. I have just become a fan of your blog as well.

  • I'm glad you found my work helpful. If your guide is print, you are welcome to reproduce the full text of my handout, with citation. If you are posting a PDF or other electronic text, I ask that you not repost the full text; however, you are welcome to post an excerpt and a link.

• hello i really need your help , i am stuck in the middle of my thesis and i need support :)

  • My advice would be to talk to your instructor. If you can't find support for your thesis, maybe there isn't any support for the claim you want to make. Look at the evidence you've already found, and build a thesis that you know you can support. That may mean you need to do more research before you can write your thesis. I hope that helps.

• Dennis, I want to thank you for your time. Your website has been invaluable to me. I have been out of high school now for 39 years, and am just now starting back into college. (my kids are grown now, and it's finally my time) Your clarity and instructions were stellar, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the time you have devoted to this. Congratulations on making something in this world that matters to so many ! ! !

  • So glad to hear you found it helpful! Best of luck as you continue your education.

• Hello, Dr. Jerz. I teach English at Arkansas State University--Mountain Home. I will be teaching a news writing class for the first time this semester. I have some background as a journalist but it's been awhile. I searched online for some resources to help me and came across your website. You have such great information on journalism! The information will be great for my students, who are mostly sophomores, and this will be their first journalism class. Do you mind if I print many of your articles to give as handouts to my students? I will include your name. Thank you!

  • Please feel free to distribute my resources. I am glad to know you find them helpful. All I ask is that you not distribute electronic copies. Sharing printouts, or distributing URLs, is fine by me.

    • Understood. Thank you.

• Hello Jerz,

  I hope you have a ear that I can 'pull' about the Adventure Game. So, here goes...

  While I was at the University(USU, Logan, Utah) going to school, I enjoyed playing Adventure quite a bit. I was a stress reliever from the grind. While at school, I had seen an original Fortran 77 source(back in the late 70's and early 80')s quite a few times. While prowling thru the source code, I picked out some cute, clever routines that I used in other programs. I feel that you have left out quite a bit of information. I remember reading the top/Documentation part - of the source code listing, it stated a list of the four 'original' authors. From what I can remember, it was Crowther and Woods and two others that I don't remember. But the documentation further stated that the original version was written in MIT's language of Muddle.It was then translated from Muddle into Fortran a by "paranoid" DEC Engineer named Robert Supnik( I believe: Robert M. Supnik) as it states. But anyrate, it was a surprise to learn of the origins of the Adventure game. But yet, I would like to get a copy of Adventure source code, data file, and documentation, preferable in "C"(but closest to the original in translation as possible. Is this possible?? If so, where can I get these files.

  Thanks for beginning back old, but fun, memories.

  Thom... June 26th, 2015...

  • Hi, Thom. Thanks for your comment. I have a lot more information about Adventure in this article, which includes an analysis of and links to Crowther's original source code: http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/1/2/000009/000009.html Rick Adams has the best collection showing the full development of multiple branches of the game. http://rickadams.org/adventure/e_downloads.html