Who Do You Write Like?

raspberrymoon — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:03:43 -0500

Last year my region found a great little site named I Write like.Me (http://iwl.me/). All you do is cut & paste a couple of paragraphs from your novel and it evaluates which famous author you write like. (btw, there is no sign-in or membership or anything and they don't store anything.)

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

raspberrymoon — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:09:54 -0500

Mine came up Chuck Palahniuk. I must admit I have never read anything by him but he is famous for the Fight Club, which I also never saw. Last year I came up with Dan Brown. I think I'd rather be Dan than Chuck. LOL

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Catana — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:20:16 -0500

If you try repeating it with different sections of your novel, you'll come up with different authors.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

MargoMcP — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:21:21 -0500

Mine came up H.P. Lovecraft. I guess I have to read something of his?

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

banditsrubyangel — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:46:09 -0500

I inputted various sections of fanfic I wrote, and part of what I'm working on for Nano. Mine came up Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, HP Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling and Gertrude Stein. I don't know what to say.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

RutaBaker — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:48:19 -0500

I am completely dismayed. Supposedly I write like Dan Brown whose books I can't stand. OH well, at least his books sell.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

RutaBaker — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:52:27 -0500

OK. After Reading Catana's post I tried pasting in another part from a different chapter. This time I write like Stephen King, an author I don't read because of the excess of blood and gore. So what does this mean? Could I possibly be penning a bestseller?

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

deddragoninn — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:59:32 -0500

I came up with J.D. Salinger, I'm okay with that.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

SecondLinnet — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:02:02 -0500

I tried it on a couple of sections and got James Joyce - both times. I've read Joyce (in my teens & twenties) and I don't see it, I've never invented a synthetic language in my life...um...not a whole language.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Cynthus — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:42:17 -0500

I am not sure if I should be insulted or not ;-) Dan Brown, David Foster Wallace, Ernest Hemingway ??? I will have to look up Wallace because that name didn't sound famous to me.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Catana — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:59:20 -0500

I suspect that everybody writes like -- themselves.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kat Gentian — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:30:43 -0500

I did this quite a while back. What I was writing then got me mostly Steven King, with a smattering of Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood and William Gibson. An old short story that never was accepted came up Shakespeare! Yeah, right. I tried my current NaNo. The sections from my Female MC POV got mostly Cory Doctorow and the sections from the Male MC POV got J D Salinger, Chuck Palahniuk and Steven King. So if nothing else I guess it shows I do have their voices different! What I did notice is that outdoor scenes tended to get Rudyard Kipling. Anyone else see that? And there seems to be a predominance of male writers in the database...

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kat Gentian — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:37:24 -0500

I plugged in my first Pen post from this evening (where Kat gets her cocoa with Baileys): Steven King. LOL

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

benjan — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:56:58 -0500

I tried Kat's suggestion and plugged in today's post to the Pen. It came back Cory Doctorow. Then I tried several paragraphs from today's NaNo writing. I got Mark Twain. I can live with that. I've also had Margaret Atwood in the past, but that was for a completely different type of story. It will be interesting to do this again with tomorrow's writing, just to see if it's consistent.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

LR — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:51:03 -0500

My first try with the opening page of a category romance I got Stephen King.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

raspberrymoon — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:01:23 -0500

LR - I think you have just done the impossible - using Stephen King and romance in the same sentence. LOL.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

kyahpearl — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:17:03 -0500

I wish they would add more authors to the list. I pulled HP Lovecraft twice, and that's good. At least it wasn't Stephen King.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

RutaBaker — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:57:38 -0500

Today my MMc corresponds to Cory Doctorow and my FMC to Isaac Asimov.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Erica in the novel — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:35:21 -0500

I tried this pre-November and got a random bunch of authors. However, when I just now tried it with different sections of my current 'novel' I got Kurt Vonnegut each and every time!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Cynthus — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:47:48 -0500

Very consistent. Woot! ;-)

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Cynthus — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:46:47 -0500

This excerpt was Margaret Atwood... I like her stories. ;-)

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Geolie — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:20:56 -0500

That was fun....I got a spattering of the above. I put the same chunk in several times just to make sure there was some "analysis" going on and it was consistent. : )

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Dixiegirl — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:50:49 -0500

Vonnegut... NOT

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

benjan — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:47:36 -0500

I got Mark Twain again for today's sample. I tried another section and got H. P. Lovecraft.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kataja — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:23:00 -0500

How can Dan Brown and Hemingway occur for the same text? (must admit I haven't read Dan Brown, I just started to hate all that blaablaablaa about his DaVinci Code by people thinking "it is true" - BTW I always hate it when a writer speculates on history - or future - and then it is taken at face value.) Hmm. Unfortunately I cannot make that test, as I'm writing in Finnish - I should first translate the text, and it would probably turn out rather lame (as I can chat and write non-fiction in English, but would never try anything actually literary).

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Timkford — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:28:19 -0500

Tried a little from the Pen and got David Foster Wallace - never heard of him but looks ok, the from my 'novel' Gertrude Stein; Dan Brown; and predictably given that it was a section based in 1913 - P.G.Wodehouse Anyone would think my writing would demonstrate MPD!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chriscoonen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:41:24 -0500

I put the first paragraph from my book and got Dan Brown. ARRGGGH!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chriscoonen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:53:27 -0500

Then I picked a random paragraph that I thought has a sense of poetry and guess what DAN BROWN AGAIN! I can't take it I soppose I would like to write like a more classic writer? Gosh, so mainstream fiction. Sigh

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kat Gentian — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:54:36 -0500

Ooh, Tim, you're the first I've seen who got Wodehouse! Well done!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Walt3rd — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:54:04 -0500

I tried it with two different sections of my novel. First time came up James Joyce (!) and the second time came up Dan Brown (! ?) Funny, I didn't realize I had hidden meaning in my novel...then again, they must be hidden, 'cause I didn't know about them!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Rohahnya — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:48:57 -0500

I keep getting Cory Doctorow. Not just this year's but my whole 16,042 words from Last year too! I can honesty say I don't think I have ever read him. My hubby got Ann Rice.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chriscoonen — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:57:52 -0500

So, after a little teasing by my writer friends, I retried the site today and got ANNE RICE, I felt better, yea, me and ann, writing cool stuff, than I reput another random paragraph and got DAN BROWN so out of four random tries, three dans and one ann; guess what, I AM MAINSTREAM? anyhoo, anything beats editing, maybe i will rearrange the sock drawers next? editing chris

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

cecilia_peartree — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:07:26 -0500

I have 3 different POV characters in my NaNo novel so I put in a section from each of them. The first one (a retired spy) came out, amazingly, as Ian Fleming! The second (an archivist) as Dan Brown. The third (an American housewife) as HP Lovecraft. I was quite pleased that they all came out as different writers, but absolutely staggered by the Ian Fleming one.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Walt3rd — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:59:35 -0500

I'm writing the wrong genre today it seems. Apparently today I am Kurt Vonnegut

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

kyahpearl — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:15:35 -0500

Well, I am shocked and amazed. I was H.P. Lovecraft and now almost half way through I'm David Foster Wallace (didn't he kill himself? Depressed or something?) and George Orwell! Lemme try some dialogue..... Oh sh*t. Stephen King...... SHOOT ME NOW!!!!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

NineTiger — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:08:45 -0500

I got P G Wodehouse. Bet if I used the word stygian or cyclopean, I'd get a Lovecraft ;) MGP

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

dancingfool — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:13:58 -0500

wouldn't it be amusing if you entered a section from one well-known author, and got a different author!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

raspberrymoon — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:41:20 -0500

What a great idea.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

raspberrymoon — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:16:30 -0500

Fool - I tried it. Mark Twain's War Prayer came up Arthur C. Clarke. Hmmm I wonder the significance of that?

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Zookeeper — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:32:50 -0500

I input three sections from my zombie novel, and I got Cory Doctorow twice and Vladimir Nabokov once. Lolita and zombies?!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

treefrog5700 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:55:33 -0500

I've done this before. This time, I got WIlliam Gibson. I had to google him. I've never read anything by him. When I first tried this (last year, I think) I got Dan Brown and was so unthrilled that I tried it about five more times. Got Stephen King mostly and David Foster Wallace. Writing in first person, the character determines the voice. A different character would yield a different voice. In fact, I can try it. I'm writing a series of stories, all in first person, connected by a single object that keeps changing hands. Here goes: James Joyce another William Gibson Jack London

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kataja — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:14:34 -0500

Lolita with zombies would really be interesting!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chrisdd — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:29:31 -0500

L Frank Baum I don't even know what to say about that.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chrisdd — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:39:23 -0500

Analyzed something else and I got Vladimir Nabokov, the man who wrote Lolita.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

DreamingOn — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:08:49 -0500

I did it once and am quitting while I'm ahead -- one page nets me Neil Gaimon! Yahoo!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Fiona W — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:03:23 -0500

Nabokov! That's very impressive, chrisdd. He's a superb stylist.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Fiona W — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:27:26 -0500

That thing is fun to play with, but it's quite erratic, if not erroneous. A while ago I tested it out by pasting the first 10 chapters of Moby-Dick into it, one at a time. Of those ten chapters, only one of them was analysed as being like Herman Melville. The other nine were said to be like a wide range of authors, including some contemporary ones. It's not hard to figure out why some authors get picked. When I've pasted in my journal entries, I've noticed that the rather verbose and high-vocabulary ones are always "like" David Foster Wallace, who is well-known for those characteristics. When I pasted in the excerpt from my NaNo page just now, it got Mary Shelley. Uhh...it has the words "Frankenstein" and "Mary Shelley" in it! So then I excised just those words from my excerpt and tried again: Arthur C. Clarke. I'm not surprised it got a science fiction writer, because it has references to machines and other medical-scientific words. Why Arthur C. Clarke in particular... =shrug=

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kat Gentian — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:42:27 -0500

Fiona, I noticed that the answers seemed subject related, too. However he has it set up, it doesn't seem to be using reference points writers would use.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

chrisdd — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:50:00 -0500

I submitted something else and got Gaimon too. L. Frank Baum The Russian Dude Neil Gaimon Perhaps this is how you say writer with "ADHD."

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

iwillfinishmynovel — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:53:47 -0500

I checked out the link you provided. I write like...James Joyce. Someone please come over and scrape me off the floor. I write what I like to read (Julia Quinn, Stephanie Laurens) because I like smart witty dialogue/repartee, characters w/ personality & wit; a sense of adventure in the story, strong heroine and likeable but mischevious hero. I need to catch my breath.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

iwillfinishmynovel — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:15:39 -0500

I couldn't help myself. I pasted two more excerpts (best three out of three) into the analyzer. Second cut/paste - again with James Joyce. The third time: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I'd do it a fourth time but I'm afraid it'll either come up with Charles Dickens or it'll cut me off at the knees and say Dr. Seuss. Disclaimer: I love Dr. Seuss, but that writing cadence isn't exactly suited to a historical regency romance. Wait...maybe that could be next year's NANO project. I am Pam I am Pam Pam I am That Pam-I-am That Pam-I-am! I do not like that Pam-I-am Do you like handsome Dan or Tam? I do not like them, Pam-I-am. I do not like handsome Dan or Tam. Borrowed, w/ no disrespect intended or implied, from Green Eggs and Ham. Oh that was awful.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Erica in the novel — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:06:03 -0500

No, it wasn't! I loved it!

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Erica in the novel — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:10:55 -0500

Ok, first four of my chunks (can't quite bring myself to call them 'chapters' yet) get Kurt Vonnegut, next three get Agatha Christie, then David Foster Wallace, and Mario Puzo! Except for Kurt Vonnegut (I am kind of pleased with that), how can I write like someone I don't read and don't want to read?! I wonder how many authors have been added to this site... Seems somewhat limited...

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

Kate Whitely — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:02:46 -0500

I tried four and came up with Dan Brown, James Joyce, Margret Mitchell and Stephenie Meyer. I am familiar with all of them except Stephenie Meyer.

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

iwillfinishmynovel — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:39:35 -0500

Stephanie Meyer(s) wrote Twilight-those vampire novels

Re: Who Do You Write Like?

ros77uk — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:59:08 -0500

I write like L Frank Baum, the chap who wrote The Wizard of Oz. This is rather pleasing, as mine was a children's book with a talking cat in it. Glad I got it right...