Writing can be an arduous process that involves hours of pounding away at a keyboard, planning plots, editing, reading, and fighting the inner critic. Sometimes you need a little boost to your confidence or just a little chuckle to keep you going. For just such an occasion I keep a website bookmarked on my toolbar: I Write Like.
The site has a snazzy program that analyzes a written excerpt from a novel, story, blog, etc. and determines which famous author it most resembles. Through statistical analysis, elements such as word choice and sentence structure are compared to the styles of well-known writers. For example, I copied a segment of my novel draft and pasted it into a box on the site’s homepage. After a quick click on the analyze button, I found out that I write like Charles Dickens. Yeah, right, I laughed to myself. Different pieces of my writing have also been analyzed to be like David Foster Wallace, Margaret Atwood, and Stephanie Meyer. I’ll admit being compared to Wallace was super exciting as he is an idol of mine, but it’s all relative in the grand scheme of things!
I don’t know how accurate or scientific this whole process is, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exciting to be compared to Charles Dickens. Though its impossible to pigeonhole artistic expression with statistics, I find “I Write Like” to be a nice distraction when I’m having a difficult writing day. Of course my goal as a writer is to have a distinct voice that is solely my own, but it’s nice to be “like” a famous author. It gives me a little hope that one day I will taste the sweet victory of publication.
So, who do you write like?
c.b. 2011
I entered a friend’s blog post and it spit out DFW. I love DFW, he hates him. I will NEVER tell him what it said.
Oddly, I’m not a huge Dickens fan either, but sure enough his name popped up.
Perhaps we all have a little genius hiding inside of us even if its not our chosen style.
Wow. My all time favorite author, as you know. I’ll have to go look at this. Perhaps, they don’t have all the authors in there. Perhaps your idol just isn’t listed. I wonder, if someone put in a piece of Wallace’s writing who he would come up like. This could become an addiction.
I’m going to have to give this a try when I have something to put in.
I should have put a warning label on the site – it is very, very addicting!
Lol!
Have fun!
It said I write like a crossword puzzle.
Actually, I found this site a while back, and depending on which of my poems or prose I input, it says I write like Arthur Clarke, Ursula Le Guin, William Shakespeare or James Joyce. There were a few others, but I can’t remember them now.
Lol!
Oooo, I can totally see Shakespeare in your work.
Hadn’t heard of this site. It sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for mentioning it..
You bet! Have fun!
Ok, I checked it out…too tempting not to. I submitted two samples per story from two different stories. Story one came up Stephen King and Stephenie Meyer. The second story came up Neil Gaiman and Charles Dickens. What does this say about my writing? Ouch! I haven’t hit my writing stride yet…………..
Its all in good fun! If anything, diversity in results means you must have a very original voice.
That site is addicting! My fiction tends to show up as Stephen King and J.K. Rowling, depending on the section I submit.
Wow – you’re in good company!
Thanks for reading!
How amusing! I copied four random selections from various points in my novel (I couldn’t resist) and ended up with James Joyce, Dan Brown, Arthur Clarke, and Shakespeare. How interesting that it wasn’t the same person more than once….
Since three of the four are from the UK, perhaps I should begin working on a British accent…
Thanks for sharing it!
How lucky that you share style with James Joyce!
Sometimes I put the same section in over the course of a few days. In my early drafts of my novel, different names cam up, but then later drafts the results evened out. Now no matter what I do, I am always Charles Dickens.
Glad you had fun!
I matched 3 of your 4 Bryna. Now I can add, “I write like Bryna” to my dossier.
In that case, I’m honored to say that “I write like RoughWaterJohn.” Who ever would have guessed I’d be two peas in a writing pod with a pirate?
This is awesome. When I put in an excerpt from my novel, I got J.D. Salinger. An excerpt from my blog got me David Foster Wallace. Either way I’m happy
Niiiice!
You’re the first I’ve come across that gets J.D. Salinger. I’d be happy with that, too!
That site is so much fun ! I took two separate sections from my book and got H.P. Lovecraft first, then Stephanie Meyer. So then I tested my History thesis and got Lovecraft again. I looked up the name and he wrote stuff like “Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre”. ????? Not sure if I should feel ok about that because at least I’m not copying something I’ve read before, but then I’m not sure what it really says about my work without understanding the comparison.
So I decided to try part of a book I’m reading to see what that came out with so this way maybe I could expand my reading selection by trying a few of their books as well. Because I really really like this author’s style and it made me feel much more comfortable about my style as well as very inspired. The web page said that it was similar to David F Wallace or Arthur Clarke
Like I said, I don’t know how accurate this whole thing, but it is a lot of fun.
Glad you’re finding so much inspiration and encouragement.
At least yours was a Brittish guy !!
True, but I’m surprised nonetheless. Dickens’ style is masterful, but not to my taste. I have to wonder how the heck I ended up writing like him!
Interesting post! Thanks to you, I went to I Write Like’s website after reading this one.
Thanks for stopping by!
I’m glad you enjoyed I Write Like!
Too addicting! I get James Joyce, like others who have commented. I wonder if most poetry ends up with Joyce? Thanks for letting me in on this addicting site!!
Ooo, I don’t know. How about I put in my poetry and see what happens (I’ve never done it!)? It is a fun site and I’m glad you’re having a good time with it!
Christy,
I put in a few of my poems and got these responses:
David Foster Wallace (Niiiice!
)
James Fenimore Cooper
I’m off to look up Cooper as I don’t know his work.
So it appears you are in good company with James Joyce.
Oh this is going to be so addictive…
Beginning of my novel: Gertrude Stein
End: Dan Brown
Ooo, no one has had Gertrude Stein yet – that’s awesome!
The addiction factor is why I keep this site on my toolbar.
It’s on mine now. I plugged in a couple of blog posts too….. Dan Brown came up again and H.P. Lovecraft came up twice.
Awesome find. Different sections of my two books bring up the following for me :
H.G. Wells
Dan Brown
Edgar Allen Poe
Stephen King
Hmmmm. That’s a mix and a half!
That is an interesting mix! You must have a very eclectic style!
Stephen King, no matter what I send. lol
Niiiice!
There is something to be said for consistency! I am more like W.Chaser it seems!
It doesn’t matter what section of my novel I put in – I get Charles Dickens every time! Short stories always conjure David Foster Wallace, while an earlier draft of my novel got Dan Brown. Hmmmm . . . I wonder what my book reviews would get.
“Hmmmm . . . I wonder what my book reviews would get.
”
Great reviews?
Aw, thanks! Now I’m motivated to write about a book I just read. Lol!
Very cool and I shall check it out!!
Have fun, but as we’ve warned it is soooo addicting!
Thanks for stopping by!
I think I figured how this site works.
Possibly. I do remember reading somewhere that it was developed with a sophisticated algorithm that analyzes sentence structure and word choice. But honestly, who knows! It’s fun, nonetheless.
If that was true, the site must have explained to us why we got David Foster Wallace, etc. I actually suggested that to the site admin but got no reply. Hope they listened. Yup, it’s really fun.
Their blog on Tumblr says the algorithm used for that site is open for everyone. “Open for hackers.” I wish I knew how to “hack”.
Lol!
I suppose we’ll just have to enjoy the game, then.
I got J.D. Salinger, H.P. Lovecraft and Cory Doctorow. Hmmm.
When I put in my Western, I got David Foster Wallace. Double hmmm. I don’t know what that says about my western style. It’s so addictive!
My memoir last month got H.P. Lovecraft.
Then just out of curiosity I tried 2 more and got Margaret Atwood and Dan Brown. I’m all over the place!
Interesting combination!
There are days when I’m all over the place, too. It was actually pretty exciting the day I put in several parts of my novel and got the same result every time. Somewhere between the second and third draft I must have found my voice.
I can imagine how exciting that woud be. I get Cory Doctorow most frequently but I’m looking forward to finding my own voice. Have you tried it again wih other pieces?
I’ve tried with multiple pieces and I tend to be all over the place when I switch genres, but within genres the results are pretty consistent, (which I’ve decided is a good thing!)
I got J.D. Salinger, H.P. Lovecraft and Cory Doctorow. Hmmm.
When I put in my Western, I got David Foster Wallace. Double hmmm. I don’t know what that says about my western style.
My memoir last month got H.P. Lovecraft.
Then just out of curiosity I tried 2 more and got Margaret Atwood and Dan Brown. I’m all over the place!
This is so addictive! How did you find it?
I honestly can’t remember where I found it! I wish I could, so I could give the source credit.