I Write Like is a site you can enter, copy and paste an excerpt of your writing into a text box, and find out which famous writer you write like. The site claims to use a statastical analysis tool to analyze word choices and writing style and compare it to famous writers to see which one your writing resembles. Sounds interesting, right? So the other day I pasted an excerpt from a short story I've recently written. I was hoping to learn I write like Flannery O'Connor or Katherine Ann Porter, two of my favorite short story writers. I was surprised to find out my writing resembles . . . David Foster Wallace. Really?
His name is familiar, but I've never read any of his work. So, I did a search. The link above is one of many that talks about his writings, his life, and his death. Such a sad waste of talent lost too soon.
Back to the I Write Like site. Visiting the site is quick and easy, but its results are not without critics.
In today's New York Times, David Itzkoff writes about "Getting the Not-Quite-Right Stuff from I Write Like." In his article he relates how he tested the site with three well-known literary passages. The results are quite amusing.
If you're the curious type and don't take these statistical analysis tools too seriously, tool on over to I Write Like and give it a go. It's free and fun, and after you get your results, you can mention that your writing style is like (insert famous author's name) in you bragging "writes."
And if you're a brave soul, you can post your results here so we'll all know who you write like.
This is just hilarious and loads of fun, Donna. Apparently I write like Stephen King! HA! (I hope I can MARKET like Stephen King too...and make his sales...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for that.
Chynna
www.lilywolfwords.ca
www.the-gift-blog.com
Hi Donna! Yes, I tried it out yesterday and I decided then and there it was quite the funny hoax! I posted humorous piece from my blog, about my husband scaring me so badly on our steps....and it said I write like Robert Louis Stevenson. Yeah! I write just like "Treasure Island", don't I?!
ReplyDeleteHi Chynna,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it fun?
Good to hear from you and glad to learn you write like Stephen King.
Donna
I tried three different pieces and got told I write like H.P. Lovecraft known for his wierd fiction, Stephen King, and Harry Harrison, science fiction writer. Golly, I am more talented than I ever suspected. Why don't eidtors recognize this fact? :)
ReplyDeleteHi Becky,
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's all in fun. Kind of like a Cosmo quiz.
Any time I hear or read the word "statictical analysis tool" I take it with a grain of salt.
I worked as a management analyst for the Army and the DOD and actually did statistical analyses.
Most times the findings were valid, but occasionally the results were a SWAG (scientific wild a** guess) rather than a WAG (wild a** guess).
Robert Louis Stevenson . . . Really?
Donna
Hi Claudia,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're in good company.
Those are some famous writers. And I agree with what you wrote about editors not recognizing your talent. Shame on them!
Donna
This is a fun site. According to it when I blog, I write like Margaret Atwood. When I write, it's more like Stephen King :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jemi,
ReplyDeleteNow, that's an odd combination, eh?
Donna
Ha ha! Margaret Mitchell! Not a bad comparison for this Georgia gal. Ahhh....would that it were true! *sigh*
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteMargaret Mitchell . . . that's great!
Donna
Alrighty, I think they are going heavy on Stephen King,Margaret Mitchell, and Margaret Atwood--three of mine. The other was David Foster Wallace. It was fun though.
ReplyDeleteWell that certainly made my day. It told me I write like Margaret Mitchell, who just happens to be one of my favorites!
ReplyDeletePat
www.critteralley.blogspot.com
Um,...James Joyce?
ReplyDeleteWell, I do like my run-on sentences (with lots of parenthetical asides). :-)
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing:) Will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks and blessings,
Karen
I tried to trick it by entering first a serious piece and then a silly one...and it said Kurt Vonnegut both times! Wow, am I ever flattered! Thanks for sharing the fun and making my day. And so on.
ReplyDeleteI and many others write just like Dan Brown! The second piece submitted, like you, said David Foster Wallace. Scary as I also spent time at the UofI Champaign and like Mary Karr. He committed suicide so maybe I'm in trouble!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda F.,
ReplyDeleteWow! Stephen King,Margaret Mitchell, Margaret Atwood and David Foster Wallace.
You are versitile!
Donna
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteMargaret Mitchell! I can see that fit for you, and I'm glad to hear she's one of your favorite writers.
Donna
Hi Cathy,
ReplyDeleteJames Joyce? Awesome. (He's Irish, right?).
Donna
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. After you check it out, hope you stop back to let us know who you write like.
Donna
Hi Tammy,
ReplyDeleteYou trickster, you. Kurt Vonnegut--twice! Congratulations. That's great.
Donna
Hi Linda A.,
ReplyDeleteDan Brown. Talk about a money-making machine! And David Foster Wallace is quite impressive. Such a sad waste of talent to take his own life. I read a few articles about his depression. So sad.
Donna