Welcome to the info page for *Writing Bad*!
*Writing Bad* is a game I occasionally play on my blog, and YOU should participate!
Below are the various versions and the accompanying rules:
I. The Clam Before the Storm: This game involves real-life sentences and phrases I have gathered from student essays in my classes over the years (the title “The clam before the storm” comes from just such an essay). They are completely anonymized, and the intent is not to mock students or belittle their efforts. Some of these errors were made by good, hard-working students. I don’t think those mistakes make them stupid — we all make our own share of language mistakes, after all. And I simply love language and all the fun and weird things it does.
So here are the rules for The Clam Before the Storm:
A. I will post a language error chosen from the ones I have collected over the years.
B. You will write a flash fiction story of no more than 100 words in which you somehow in some way include the original sentence/phrase. You may do this in the Comments section or you may email me your entry at leifericksonwrites.com.
C. I will choose the top 3 entries and post them on the blog.
D. I will ship the first place winner a prize (the specific prize will be announced at the beginning of the game). It is a real prize, but nothing life-changing; probably a cool t-shirt or a book or something strange and fun.
II. Dear Me: In this game, participants will choose a short piece of writing they did when they were younger, and write a letter to that younger self, critiquing their own writing.
Here are the rules for Dear Me:
A. Find a piece of writing you did when you were younger. A short selection is best, so that others will read it too.
B. Write a letter to your younger self in which you critique the selection. Don’t be too mean to yourself; try to keep it light and fun! Self-deprecating but never self-hateful.
C. Email me the selection and the accompanying letter at leifericksonky@gmail.com
D. I will post the results on the blog. The most entertaining entry will receive a prize. (See I above for more info about the prizes.)
There will be more! I want to go ahead and get things rolling with these two, but I have plenty more ideas. And I would love to hear YOUR ideas! email me suggestions for *Writing Bad* at leifericksonky@gmail.com