With the rise of generative AI, such as ChatGPT and all of its siblings, people begin to lose trust in what they are reading. 

“Is it written by a human or a computer?” People now often question.

Well, about our latest title, Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 3, I can guarantee you that it is 100% human work, because this is something beyond ChatGPT’s capabilities.

Chinese Writing Contest 2023 is coming to an end. It has been fantastic to read so many interesting entries!

Thank everyone for your support. Without you, this event wouldn’t have had a chance. And you made it exciting. Thank you all very much.

There will be winners in this year’s Chinese Writing Contest. And for anyone whose writing is included in the Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 3, he or she is a winner. But not all participants’ submissions will be included in the book. That means, someone’s work will be rejected. 

As the contest is closed, it is fitting to talk a little bit about handling rejection.

Chinese Writing Contest 2023 was closed on Sep 16. A total of 23 entries were received.

These aspiring writers are from Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea, Switzerland, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, the United States, and China. Thank you all for participating!

So, what is it like to write with only 320 Chinese characters?

Below are the replies that I received from some of this year’s participants. 

September 16, the closing date for Chinese Writing Contest 2023, is coming soon.

Don’t miss it!

And remember, it’s in Hong Kong time (GMT + 8) 🤞

At one point, all writers have to do is to sit there and struggle.

The first time I heard this line was from a musician who was talking about his process of writing music. I thought, wow, that was commitment. The truth is that this level of commitment is equally required for writers who write with words. 

As Sep 16, the closing date for Chinese Writing Contest 2023, is approaching, it’s worth reminding all aspiring Chinese language writers that, sooner or later, all you need to do is to sit there and struggle.

In 1872, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was invited to give a series of public speeches on education reforms. 

During these speeches, he said there were two truly antagonistic educational institutions in Germany: one was for real education, and the second one was for livelihood. And all education organisations belonged to the second category.

Chinese Writing Contest 2023 will be receiving submissions on August 1. It’s only a few days away!

Get your writing ready for the big day and use this simple checklist to make sure that your submission stands a chance to get qualified.

Last time I wrote about using 4C to improve your story telling skills. Today we zero in on the fourth C — “Characters”, meaning that your characters need to be alive and convincing. 

There are many ways to do this. As mentioned in the last post, action is one of them. However, your character’s action can not be random. Although it is you who create that character, you can not ask him or her to behave in a way that is not in-line with his or her personality traits, social background, economic strength, personal experiences, and so on. 

The majority of submissions during the previous Chinese Writing Contests were short stories. While some were exceptionally good, there were stories that really confused me. This year I hope to receive more of the former, none of the latter.

This is the reason that we’re going to talk a little bit about the 4C in story telling. I’ll use some successful entries from 2022 to illustrate.

Use “ “” ”, not “「」”.

Use “ 。”, not “.”.

As the opening day for Chinese Writing Contest 2023 is less than 30 days away, I’d like to remind all participants to pay attention to Chinese punctuation marks in their writings.

The first Chinese Writing Contest was launched in 2021. It was started as a response to an ongoing prevalent belief among Chinese language learners, teachers and test authorities.

At the time, I did not anticipate the rise of ChatGPT. All of a sudden, this amazing and fascinating AI powered chat bot gives a new meaning and mission to why this Chinese Writing Contest must carry on.

We’re talking about how to write well and earn a place in the coming Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 3.

My understanding of writing well is to write in a way that is simple, engaging and easy to follow. I believe this is the ultimate trait of good writers. Think of Hemingway’s little book, The Old Man and the Sea.

You’ve decided to participate in this year’s Chinese Writing Contest. 

You have found yourself a comfortable place with a nice cup of tea. You have placed a piece of paper in front of you, or a blank computer screen. You’ve reminded yourself that the submission starts on August 1, 2023.

The only thing that is not here is … an idea that you can write about.