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.
