This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Sparkfest! Part 2

        Today I am continuing with the Sparkfest which is hosted by The Writer Coaster.




Sparkfest



What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?


        I'm sad to say that the progress on my current Work in Progress has been put into very slow motion, but it is still active unlike some of my works that are on the shelf accumulating dust.  My NaNo novel from 2010, Time Light, is something that I continue to work on and think about.  In other words it's not dead.  My preparation and wrap-up activities for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge have taken a great deal of my time in the first half of this year and catching up from that, keeping my blog current, and just dealing with daily life provide plenty to veer me off course.  It's really a poor excuse, but I'm sticking with it.


       It would be difficult to pinpoint the spark of inspiration for Time Light.   The style is an amalgam of the styles of modern writers that I have read over the years.  I'd like to think that it is my own style, but it is similar to many modern writers.   For what it's worth (and I don't think much) according the web site I Write Like, my style is like Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club.  I won't complain about that comparison, although I've never read anything by Palahniuk so I couldn't say for sure and that being the case I certainly can't cite him as being any influence or inspiration to my writing.  My writing is my style and I'll take credit or accept blame for it.


      One could probably find quirks in the writing that might one day identify the style as my own.  I hope that will eventually be the case.   I'll have to consider this question of inspiration more as I continue to finish my novel and then as I revise my manuscript. Maybe that spark will come to me and then again, maybe it won't.


        Do you like to be compared to other established authors?   Would you want your writing to be mistaken for that of a well known author?   Have you run your writing sample through I Write Like?   Who did you write like?


      


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18 comments:

  1. I've run my writing through there a few times, and I've come to the conclusion I write like everyone. lol

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  2. I've never run my stuff through that site. I guess I'm afraid of what it would say.

    I like Chuck Palahniuk too. I'd be okay with that.

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  3. At least dust them off every once in a while, dust is bad for your health. :)

    Never tested "I write like," I'm afraid I'll brake it. :)
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  4. This week I'm blogging about Elizabeth Berg, my inspiration and my "spark". I've been told (by friends...does that count?) that my novel, The Bandaged Place, reflects her style. So that's a good thing! But if I had to choose, I'd love to write like Ann Patchett...oh, yeah.

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  5. Hate to admit it but I'm not familiar with "I write like". I guess this is sometihng I need to investigate.

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  6. Depends on which author as to whether or not I would want my writing to be mistaken as written by someone else.

    I have tried I Write Like, and it's kinda fun to see what different sections produce. I've gotten Stephen King and a few others, some I had to look up. That site probably isn't worth much, but it is fun.

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  7. I ran three different writings through that and it came up with three different writers. Interesting, huh? So that tells me I write like ME LoL!

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  8. I never did the I Write Like thing until now. I ran the story part of Monday's blog post through and the results were I write like Stephen King. Then I separately ran two chapters from the manuscript I recently completed - one from a female POV and one from a male. Both results were the same: Cory Doctorow. Now how weird is it that everything I write is like a male writer and not a female?

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  9. i would just love to be a published poet and to see my name on the front of a book.

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  10. I write like me.......who else could write a poem about a garden pea?

    Yvonne.

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  11. I'm glad you continue work on your ms. I look forward to reading it one of these days. :)

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  12. So far I've been compared to Robert Heinlein, Orson Scott Card, and the Star Wars novels - so I'd have to say yes, I do!

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  13. I haven't used it...am afraid of being compared to anyone, established, published or unpublished !

    Lee, I've mailed you, could you check your mail...would love an answer....:)

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  14. I had never tried the Write Like site, so I just put a few pieces of my writing through their analysis. At first I got Dan Brown, then I got Kurt Vonnegut! I'm not a fan of the Da Vinci Code, so I have to say I'd rather go with Vonnegut. Funny though that both came up, my writing must be kind of schizophrenic!

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  15. I can relate. My WIP's progress has kinda stalled at this point, too. I hope you get back at it! :-)

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  16. You know, my writing is often mistaken for that of Earnest Hemingway, Fyoder Dostoyevsky, and Hunter S Thompson....
    Seriously!

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  17. I'm not too confident about the validity of "I Write Like" but it's fun to play with. Still somewhat computer deprived--will try to get to some of my emails and other blog entries in the next few days.


    Lee

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  18. Yes, I've done that test as well. Although for the life of me, I can't actually remember what I got labeled...I agree that each writer' style is unique ~ that's why there are so many different kinds of books out there ;-) For that, I'm eternally grateful. Not just for that variety, but also for my Kindle, which lets me experience so many more of them now that book prices have essentially gone down to about 10% of the cover price.

    Tina @ Life is Good

    P.S LOVED CassaStar. and am so looking forward to the sequel.

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