Sunday, August 1, 2010

I Write Like, Contests

Today, I’m all about having fun so I’m leading you to the Internet site, I Write Like. In a box you paste a short piece of your fiction or nonfiction work and click the analyze button to see which famous writer you write like. The statistical analysis tool evaluates your words and writing style and makes a comparison.

On fictional pieces, my style was like Steven King’s. Not once. Not twice. Three times. I hope this program is spot-on with accuracy. If not, it’s fun to dream.

When I submitted classroom activities based on one of my books, David Foster Wallace’s name appeared. I had to check him out since I’d never heard of him. He wrote a book called Infinite Jest. So far I was in good company, but the fun picked up pace when I pasted a few paragraphs in my fifth piece. J.K. Rowling’s name’s popped up.

Look out Hollywood. I’m on my way.

The I Write Like program was created by Dmitry Chestnykh, a Russian software programmer, who said he wanted it to be educational and to help people become better writers. He has uploaded three books each by about 50 authors.

Since we deal with so much rejection in the publishing world, it’s fun to feed work to the little I Write Like box and dream of what lies ahead. So have a little fun; give this site a try. Feel good about your writing and dream big.

The Pedestrian* Quarterly Essay Contest
http://thepedestrian.org/quarterly-essay-contest
Deadline: September 15, 2010

Creative Writers' Circle Short Story Contest
The first paragraph is provided.
Your job is to finish the story, up to 3500 words.
Deadline: August 31, 2010
Details at http://www.creativewriterscircle.com/index.php?p=1_3_Contests

2 comments:

  1. I've heard of the I Write Like site, but I've never given it a try. Did I miss the link in your post?

    Thanks for sharing the contest info.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OOPS! You're right. I forgot to add the link. Here it is. http://iwl.me/

    Have fun and thanks for pointing this out.

    ReplyDelete