Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, July 14, 2010
Books Who Do You Write Like?
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:45 PM
This is one of those book-blog trends that is impossible to ignore: If you plug a few paragraphs into I Write Like, it will reportedly tell you who you write like.
For the record: My feature writing is apparently just like reading Stephen King. My blog writing is apparently indistinguishable from the work of Chuck Palahniuk. Neither one of those comparisons make me very happy.
1
Paul, I copied in a passage from Eudora Welty and it said she writes like H.G. Wells. Don't feel bad.
3
Ha! My husband just plugged in three different sections of a short story he's working on and got George Orwell, Dan Brown, and Margaret Atwood. Two out of three ain't bad...
4
I tried it about six different times with different pieces of fiction I had written in either first or third person and got: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, Chuck Palahnuik (3-4 times), and James Joyce.
7
My fiction sample is apparently like Ian Flemming, and an essay I wrote for a political theory class reads like Kurt Vonnegut.
9
Vladmir Nabokov, bitches!
Except the second time, when I got Dan Brown.
And the third time, when I got Chuck Palahniuk.
I'll just go with Nabokov. I wonder if it is totally based on a random number generator?
Except the second time, when I got Dan Brown.
And the third time, when I got Chuck Palahniuk.
I'll just go with Nabokov. I wonder if it is totally based on a random number generator?
10
I got those two, too. I got Stephen King on an admittedly dark short story - though I didn't actually paste in the dark part.
I got the other guy (who I had to look up) on an excerpt from an unfinished novel that features as main characters two bank employees, a hippie neighborhood association president, a gay priest, and a dead drag queen. That screams Fight Club to me, alright.
I got the other guy (who I had to look up) on an excerpt from an unfinished novel that features as main characters two bank employees, a hippie neighborhood association president, a gay priest, and a dead drag queen. That screams Fight Club to me, alright.
15
Well, apparently I write like Stephen King, too.
I read that Palahniuk review and laughed out loud. I've never managed to get more than a few sentences into anything I've ever read of his without getting annoyed and stopping. He's like literary kryptonite to me.
I read that Palahniuk review and laughed out loud. I've never managed to get more than a few sentences into anything I've ever read of his without getting annoyed and stopping. He's like literary kryptonite to me.
16
I did two different passages from my blog, and got Stephen King and James Joyce. Which makes sense; you can hardly tell the difference between the two.
17
I plugged in two pages from my journal and I write like:
KURT VONNEGUT!!!!
YES!!!!! In your face Stephen King clones!!!!!!
KURT VONNEGUT!!!!
YES!!!!! In your face Stephen King clones!!!!!!
18
Which reminds me, I should listen to Moxy Fruvous again.
More...
Well you should see my story-reading baby, you should hear things that she says
She says "Hon, drop dead, I'd rather go to bed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez"
Cuddle up with William S. Burroughs, leave on the light for bell hooks
I been flirtin' with Pierre Burton 'cause he's so smart in his books
I like to go out dancing
My baby loves a bunch of authors
My heart's so broke and bleedin'
Baby's just sittin' there doin' some readin'
So I started watching some TV, played my new CD player too
She said "Turn it off or I'll call the cops, and I'll throw the book at you"
All this arguing made me get dizzy, called my doctor to came have a look
I said "Doctor, hurry!" She said: "Don't worry, I'll be over when I finish
my book"
I like to go out dancing
My baby loves a bunch of authors
We've been livin' in hovels
Spendin' all our money on brand new novels
So I got myself on the streetcar and it drove right into someone
The driver said: "I was looking straight ahead!" but he was reading the
Toronto Sun
So my honey and me go to a counsellor to help figure out what we need
She said: "We'll get your love growin', but before we get goin' here's some
books I'd like you to read"
I like to go out dancing
My baby loves a bunch of authors
Lately we've had some friction
'Cause my baby's hooked on short works of fiction
So we split and went to a party, some friends my girl said she knew
But what a sight 'cause it's authors night and the place looks like a who's who
Now I'm poundin' the Ouzo - with Mario Puzo
Who's a funny fella? - W.P. Kinsella
Who brought the cat? - would Margaret Atwood?
Who needs a shave? - he's Robertson Davies!
Ondartje started a food fight, salmon mousse all over the scene
Spilled some dressing on Doris Lessing these writer types are a scream!
I like to go out dancing
My baby loves a bunch of authors
We'll be together for ages
Eatin' and sleepin' and turnin' pages
21
Yeah, is this Canadian? I didn't expect Margaret Atwood to pop up, unless I've grossly underestimated her international renown.
23
I put in three paragraphs of Stephen King, and, to its credit, it does think Stephen King writes like Stephen King.
26
These discourse engines say little about style, not to mention diction, content, or literary merit. They analyze sentences only, based on a few different syntactic continua (hypotactic vs paratactic style, number of subordinate clauses, active vs passive verb tenses, etc). They're useful for people who study comparative linguistics and language acquisition, but not many others.
I got Dan Brown, James Joyce, and HP Lovecraft.
I got Dan Brown, James Joyce, and HP Lovecraft.
28
This algorithm thinks Flannery O'Connor writes like Stephen King, James Joyce or Ian Flemming, depending on how much text you copy in from "Wise Blood." Dumb.
29
I plugged in three 100 word stories and got Stephen King (one of them did use the F-word a few times). Then I plugged in another three and got Mark Twain. The next three yielded William Shakespeare.
Yeah, this thing is B.S. Fun, though.
Yeah, this thing is B.S. Fun, though.
33
Vonnegut. At least my blog writing is. Stipulating that this is merely someone's idea of a sentence analysis algorithm...Wow...
35
I'm skeptical. I put in an essay I wrote about "As You Like It" and got Oscar Wilde, then an essay about the founding of the Abbey Theater and got James Joyce.
So its:
Writing about something with lots of homosexual overtones = gay writer
Writing about something Irish = Irish writer
So its:
Writing about something with lots of homosexual overtones = gay writer
Writing about something Irish = Irish writer
36
I got Douglas Adams, Stephen King, and Bram Stoker. I'm truly beginning to think this thing is totally randomized.
37
(Oh, and I should point out the Douglas Adams came from a snippet of an email I sent at work about a technical issue, the Stephen King came from a bit of dialogue from a play I wrote, and the Bram Stoker came from a bit of dialogue I stole from Noel Coward. LOL!)
38
Harry Harrison, Raymond Chandler, and Tolkein. I guess i write pulpy science fiction. Not sure if that's good or bad. Still better than King or Brown I guess.
40
I am so jealous of you Nabokovs. On the bright side, my Constant Reader written in the style of Palahniuk at least registered as being written like Palahniuk.
42
This was James Joyce until I added dialog, and then it became Palahniuk:
Giffol durden tilly tithe, wixlet perdum nonannyhoo hupidor. Iffen tiffen worpan dixildoodle. Corrimuniffunal opid lurry do? Tyn gorman!
Blonzle gurriffed denuttle porrifinous bewn, gon hfxxlt yurpin. Tivvel bunditon, do gimc herrint, wup ingyghlbn triff. Hyrgthylvid fungrop relt yen yen dorpit. Pynfvlt qut clepporing srutt, pynfvit qut clepporing reldn! Vicbneldf trw dissnorting.
"Anggrid yritvb?" Wormyt skudd.
"Piln."
"Brivved purlyt?"
"Piln."
Pernixle go go bukrrv, pr gifw dunixxed.
Giffol durden tilly tithe, wixlet perdum nonannyhoo hupidor. Iffen tiffen worpan dixildoodle. Corrimuniffunal opid lurry do? Tyn gorman!
Blonzle gurriffed denuttle porrifinous bewn, gon hfxxlt yurpin. Tivvel bunditon, do gimc herrint, wup ingyghlbn triff. Hyrgthylvid fungrop relt yen yen dorpit. Pynfvlt qut clepporing srutt, pynfvit qut clepporing reldn! Vicbneldf trw dissnorting.
"Anggrid yritvb?" Wormyt skudd.
"Piln."
"Brivved purlyt?"
"Piln."
Pernixle go go bukrrv, pr gifw dunixxed.
43
stephen king, hp lovecraft, and james joyce for me. or in other words, this thing's a crock of shit and i write like myself.
44
OK, so I'm totally hooked, and I've put in all sorts of samples of my writing.
Nabokov I already mentioned, but just now I got Daniel Defoe, whom I haven't read since high school. Troubling thing is about every third time I get either Dan Brown or Palahniuk. I haven't read either one. Fight Club, right? Anyone out there read it? Should I be flattered?
Nabokov I already mentioned, but just now I got Daniel Defoe, whom I haven't read since high school. Troubling thing is about every third time I get either Dan Brown or Palahniuk. I haven't read either one. Fight Club, right? Anyone out there read it? Should I be flattered?
47
I plugged in a couple of my Slog posts and got "Charles Dickens" and "Raymond Chandler". Which is OK. Then I plugged in a section of a city directory I transcribed, and got "William Shakespeare", which just doesn't seem right.
50
If you put in a paragraph consisting of nothing but articles and conjunctions you get William Faulkner, only more accessible.
52
i got james joyce (oh boy), chuck palahniuk (makes sense i guess), and isaac asimov (good lord!) all i wanted was kurt vonnegut. oh well. *shrugs*
53
I also got Chuck, but I entered a C++ program that I wrote and it said I write like Margaret Atwood! lol
54
Clearly, they have only a few authors plugged in, because I did this three times and got Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Dan Brown, which have all been mentioned before.
55
@26 Thanks for clearing that up.
I got Daniel Defoe, James Joyce, Kurt Vonnegut, Ian Fleming, and Edgar Allan Poe. It seems fairly random.
I got Daniel Defoe, James Joyce, Kurt Vonnegut, Ian Fleming, and Edgar Allan Poe. It seems fairly random.
57
I got David Foster Wallace when I pasted a few paragraphs of a term paper on new german leftism. interesting...
i'm jealous of all of these Vonnegut results. Vonnegut rocks.
i'm jealous of all of these Vonnegut results. Vonnegut rocks.
59
Three separate paragraphs of a research paper yielded, in consecutive order, H.P. Lovecraft, Kurt Vonnegut and George Orwell. As someone said above, two out of three ain't bad.
60
My academic writing is HP Lovecraft (horror? sci-fi? fantasy?) but my poetry is 100% James Joyce. Hmmm.
61
I just tossed in some misc. crap, and got "Johathan [sic] Swift", which reduces one's confidence in this device to close to zero.
62
And then I punched in a huge long stream of swear words, not even in a sentence, and got "J.R.R. Tolkien".
63
A long passage from Hitler's "Mein Kampf" gets "David Foster Wallace". Shame he's not alive to see that.
64
I also got a David Foster Wallace with a few paragraphs I wrote for a scientific essay. Interesting.
65
David Foster Wallace for both fiction and non-fiction. Even if it's a load of crap, that may be enough encouragement to get me writing again! Thanks for posting this, Paul!
67
My piece making fun of Ursula K. Leguin was written like...Ursula K. LeGuin. Hmm.
Other pieces resulted in David Foster Wallace and William Gibson (multiple times), and Stephen King (for a couple of dialogue only paragraphs).
If I delete three lines of the Ursula K. LeGuin piece, I write like David Foster Wallace again. More hmm.
Overall, suspect methodology, but still pretty addictive.
Note: this post itself is apparently written like Arthur Conan Doyle [I'm sic they forgot the "Sir"]
Other pieces resulted in David Foster Wallace and William Gibson (multiple times), and Stephen King (for a couple of dialogue only paragraphs).
If I delete three lines of the Ursula K. LeGuin piece, I write like David Foster Wallace again. More hmm.
Overall, suspect methodology, but still pretty addictive.
Note: this post itself is apparently written like Arthur Conan Doyle [I'm sic they forgot the "Sir"]
68
Four paragraphs about William James' personal life got Isaac Asimov. What I submitted was non-fiction, but the tone was funny and sentimental, not Asimov-y at all.
Someone please submit something written when you were in 3rd grade. I'm too lazy right now.
Someone please submit something written when you were in 3rd grade. I'm too lazy right now.
71
I typed in a paragraph of Mark Twain, and it came up H.G. Wells. This thing is a scam.
Plus, apparently I write like David Foster Wallace. Like everyone else.
Plus, apparently I write like David Foster Wallace. Like everyone else.
72
Oooh, I'm the first one to write like Arthur C. Clarke.
So, now I know what a speech for a high-level State bureaucrat would sound like if written by Arthur C. Clarke.
So, now I know what a speech for a high-level State bureaucrat would sound like if written by Arthur C. Clarke.
74
An email excerpt came up like David Foster Wallace, an excerpt from a play came up like Mario Puzo, an excerpt from a short story came up like Harry Harrison. hmmm...
76
Dammit @72, all the way down that comments thread I thought I was the only Arthur C. Clarke. I entered some terrible fiction I wrote when I was a teenager. I'm not sure what to make of that.
77
I pasted in a recommendation letter I wrote for someone. Result = David Foster Wallace
I pasted in two blog posts I wrote. Result = David Foster Wallace
I pasted in six paragraphs from a legal brief I wrote 4 years ago. Result = David Foster Wallace
It's enough to make you want to go and hang yourself.
I pasted in two blog posts I wrote. Result = David Foster Wallace
I pasted in six paragraphs from a legal brief I wrote 4 years ago. Result = David Foster Wallace
It's enough to make you want to go and hang yourself.
79
Interestingly, when I pasted in some proposals I've written, I got David Foster Wallace. I don't know what that means, exactly.
80
David Foster Wallace. So I'm gratuitously verbose and encyclopedic. Eh, sounds about right (I actually do like DFW)
81
I used three different writing samples and got three different results. Oooh, I should try one of my news articles.
Anyway, my results (and the type of writing sample).
1) James Joyce (I used the first page of my book in progress)
2) Stephen King (um, some poetry I wrote. Didn't expect that.)
3) J.D. Salinger (one my blog posts, although a really long comment I left on Komo also brought up this response.)
I'm embarrassed to admit I've never read Joyce or Salinger (keep meaning to get around to it and getting sidetracked by other awesome books), and the King comparison is just . . . odd.
Anyway, my results (and the type of writing sample).
1) James Joyce (I used the first page of my book in progress)
2) Stephen King (um, some poetry I wrote. Didn't expect that.)
3) J.D. Salinger (one my blog posts, although a really long comment I left on Komo also brought up this response.)
I'm embarrassed to admit I've never read Joyce or Salinger (keep meaning to get around to it and getting sidetracked by other awesome books), and the King comparison is just . . . odd.
82
David Foster Wallace across the board, everything from Internet rants to personal notes to a grad school statement of purpose. Goes back before I ever read any DFW. And he's my favorite author. Excellent.
84
I put in six film reviews and a grad school app essay. One Vonnegut, one William Gibson (with whom I am unfamiliar), and five David Foster Wallace, whom I've never read but have long been meaning to...incentive!
85
All the sample chunks of my novel got Lovecraft or David Foster Wallace.
I'm pleased to report that my Wodehouse pastiche reported Wodehouse!
Alas, my Arthur Conan Doyle pastiche came out as Dickens. Less success there.
To my great amusement, I put in a piece of deliberately bad satire writing and got... Stephen King. I don't read him. Is he really that bad? It's not like he's Dan Brown or anything, is it?
I'm pleased to report that my Wodehouse pastiche reported Wodehouse!
Alas, my Arthur Conan Doyle pastiche came out as Dickens. Less success there.
To my great amusement, I put in a piece of deliberately bad satire writing and got... Stephen King. I don't read him. Is he really that bad? It's not like he's Dan Brown or anything, is it?
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