18 Comments on This morning I am writing like…

LukeB on Jul 19, 2010 at 15:13pm



Using the first link so far I’ve had, Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce, J K Rowling and Cory Doctorow all in the same novel. With the other link it said, ‘a moonstruck lunatic possibly actually wearing a straightjacket,’ which is probably much more accurate.

Xean Puccio on Jul 19, 2010 at 16:13pm



Interesting Claire. I Write Like apparently compares the structure of a written entry to that of published authors. For the record, I don’t believe it means anything, but here is mine…

NONFICTION PROSE ANALYSIS
I write prose like: Ernest Hemingway.

FICTION PROSE ANALYSES
I write fiction prose like: James Joyce.

POETRY ANALYSES
I write poetry like: Dan Brown

I was hoping my writing would compare to Stephen Hawking, Joseph Campbell and Shakespeare or Carl Sagan, Alexandre Dumas, and Dante Alighieri, but alas. I guess I try too hard (don’t laugh, it’s not easy to become an apex writer like all the writers mentioned in this comment and fact is, if you were to ask, I’d answer my odds of actually, eventually being as good as any of them would be six billion to one. Point is, I don’t want to be as great as they were, I just want to write my ideas in my way as skillfully as they wrote their ideas in theirs.). …And Claire, Asimov sounds like a complement. You write like one of the greatest sci-fi writers ever. My guess is, since you are involved in popularizing technical aspects of the field, you’re writing naturally has a technical, yet popular style. There, now you’ve got me acting like an analyzer.

Xean
19/1/7/2010

Michael Burns on Jul 19, 2010 at 17:56pm



‘I actually write like’ “something that’s rolling about on the keyboard” apparently. A sad departure from the original similarity to Robert Louis Stevenson prompted by the same review of The Illusionist.
Meanwhile some technical writing I’m doing is just like Cory Doctorow…does anyone else think this is rather a limited selection?

ps Just bought your book!

Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Jul 19, 2010 at 18:20pm



Ha ha, and yes, I agree, Michael – it is a bit limited.

Margaret Atwood tried it out and found that she wrote like Stephen King! (The algorithm thingummy has since been expanded so her writing style is in there now.)

I also “actually write like… an adolescent goth after a heavy night on the absinthe”. Definitely more accurate.

Gavin Hetherington on Jul 19, 2010 at 23:01pm



I write like… Neil Gaiman

I actually write like… something rolling about at random on the keyboard, possibly in pain

bestseller on Jul 20, 2010 at 20:47pm



Hi

Well apparently I write like james joyce. It seems there are a few of us!

Quite interesting though and very quick. Oh well back to writing like James then…

Paul Lamb on Jul 20, 2010 at 23:19pm



First of all, I don’t see any value at all — absolutely no value, even for entertainment — in knowing who it is I supposedly write like. What is the use of that. One should want to write like himself.

But secondly, this site is a scam. It’s run by a vanity publishing house.

Check out this link: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012502.html#012502

The blogger wrote some random characters and submitted them. The site told him he wrote like James Joyce.

Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Jul 21, 2010 at 09:25am



Hi Paul Lamb, Thanks for pointing out this link. I think there is some programming behind I Write Like, but probably based on keywords and I wouldn’t take it too seriously.
Craigslist writes like David Foster Wallace, for instance!
And it’s always good sense to be wary of anyone asking for your details online. We recommend checking out publishers in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, where each entry is carefully vetted.

Scott Foley on Jul 21, 2010 at 13:35pm



‘I also “actually write like… an adolescent goth after a heavy night on the absinthe”. Definitely more accurate.’

So much better than my comparison of actually writing like ‘a scabby horse’, Claire

On ‘I Write Like’ I got Anne Rice a few times, James Fenimore Cooper (I had to look him up, author of Last of The Mohicans). Then Dan Brown and Stephen King. Hmm.

Obviously a limited selection but a few minutes of fun nontheless. It even gave me a great topic to blog about today (work avoidance, obviously).

dcarroll on Jul 21, 2010 at 14:22pm



From ‘I Write Like’ I tried a few different parts of my novel. A piece I wrote today turned out Stephen King. The first chapter (short) turned out JK Rowling and the first part of the 2nd chapter was James Joyce. I then tried a randomn piece and it threw out Dan Brown.

Quite happy even though I wouldnt take this all as fact (along with what others have posted and I also agree you should write in your own way, but everyone’s ‘own’ way is made up of influences from our own favourites and others so I can see the lure in this) as Ive read some King, most of Brown and I am an avid JK Rowling fan (aswell as Harry Potter fan). Its only Joyce Ive never read but Ive probably read similar authors over the years.

I then tried the first chaper again in ‘I Actually Write Like’ (which gave JK Rowling in the original link) and I got ‘A Daily Mail Writer’. Quite a coincidence considering JK Rowling is supposed to hold a dislike of this particular paper

Vincent on Jul 21, 2010 at 14:49pm



I tried out that ‘I write like…’ test, putting in a bit of autobiographical prose, and it said I write like Shakespeare. I put in the next paragraph and it said I write like David Foster Wallace. Both these names have been mentioned by other contributors who have tried it.

I don’t think it’s based on any analysis at all – I reckon it just picks a name at random from a database of about ten names. That’s blown that one out of the water, then.

Sean on Jul 21, 2010 at 16:48pm



OMG – James Joyce (again!!) AND Charles Dickens, both excerpts from the same chapter!
If only………………………….

Jessica Blake on Jul 21, 2010 at 18:38pm



On randomly chosen paragraphs from something for the novel I wrote some days ago, the “I Write Like” said that I write like:
Stephen King, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling (I am most proud by this comparison, Rowling being my hero), Dan Brown, Rowling again (oh the joy!), Rowling again (at this point I feel like there’s something wrong with the matrix, how is it possible that I am this consistant?), another Rowling (and no, I’m not lying, this is really what it said!!!), then H. P. Lovecraft and again Rowling. That’s 15 pages of mostly Rowling-like writing. The pride swells in me…
Now, I know that the odds are pretty slim, but what can I say… I like the flattery xD
Didn’t even bother with the other one, though I got something decent the second time. I dislike the poo image.

Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Jul 22, 2010 at 09:58am



Jessica, glad you like the feedback! Must say, I’m no fan of that particular image either.

F Kwadily on Jul 23, 2010 at 15:16pm



I write like James Joyce….and i actually write like a daily mail journalist with a nice picture of a “poo” lol…

Alison Baverstock on Jul 24, 2010 at 06:47am



What a gem – thanks so much for passing it on. HG Wells, alias Alison Baverstock

loretolady on Jul 24, 2010 at 15:13pm



I pasted different parts of my childrens novel and apparently I write like –

Dan Brown
Bram Stoker
Margaret Atwood
&
Mark twain!!

Mavis on Jul 29, 2010 at 12:36pm



I tried a couple of different paras from two different chapters of something I’m currently working on to see it if was consistent!

Apparently …. I write like Stephenie Meyer (I wish)!

I actually write like ’someone about to go on a killing spree’!!!!

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