Sometimes when I go to a blog, I check out someone on their blog roll which more than awhile back was when I started coming across, multiple places, a link to a site where you could paste in some of your own writing to see which author they say you are most like.
Because I thought it'd be more interesting, I first used one of my fiction stories, put in the opening paragraphs and got back-- Jane Austen.
Jane Austen... They had to be kidding. I like her. She's been slightly popular for awhile... However, I don't think my writing is anything like hers. So I tried again with a piece of text further into that story with no female characters. It came up J.K. Rowling.
That absolutely could not be. There was nothing supernatural in that particular story. It is kind of a sensual, historic romance set in Arizona of the 1880s. That didn't fit at all.
Okay, try it one more time with a little more action oriented piece of text and it came back Jane Austen again. I decided to quit while I was ahead as I mulled over what that meant for my style of writing.
A few days later, I thought what the heck, I'd give it a try with something from this blog. This time it said Stephen King. Eek-- what did that mean?
A month went by, maybe more before I found the right time to write about it here, I decided to try a new piece of text from something more recent at Rainy Day Thought. This time it came back-- David Foster Wallace.
That's not too bad actually, rather more flattering to me than King even if the writer is less well known, made less money, and suffered from depression. It might be that the comparison came because of the subject matter of the text I had chosen-- Collapse.
Okay, so maybe I write the fiction like a woman and my blog like a man (people who read my political posts probably would definitely think that is so)? I might sometime try another of my manuscripts but not for awhile.
If you are interested in finding out what your writing is like based on a statistical system using algorithms, here's the link:
9 comments:
Wow!!! Jane Austen!!! Heavy stuff!!!
I tried two different samples -- one from my published short story and one from my blog. The former said I write lik Cory Doctorow and the latter says I write like P.G. Wodehouse. I like both but I don't think of myself as writing humor. Oh well. This was interesting and fun! Thanks!!!!
It's a fun site, but doesn't make any sense. I've tried it three times with three different pieces of writing. First I was like Rudyard Kipling [I think it mentioned a monkey]; then it was David Foster Wallace, and finally Kurt Vonnegut. I guess I'm not easily pegged as a "woman writer" and I don't know if that's good or bad or just inane.
I think the whole thing is just to make you feel like you write as well as some famous writer, they never say you write like Jane Average (or Joe Average). Ah well, I'll take my flattery however I can get it LOL.
I've had a little time to think about this and with mine showing so many different styles, I am wondering if what we can learn from it is to find a style and make it consistent. Perhaps that is what the successful authors have done...
English language is not my primary language, yet I can recognize this when using the google translator. Fantastic article, have them coming! With thanks!
Rain, wanted to make sure you knew that our friend A/B was wounded in Tucson yesterday. Stop by her blog to send her a message of encouragement.
Each time I try this it gives me a different author, none of whom I know.
That was fun Rain! Everything I sent in came out David Foster Wallace. I should be so lucky to even write a single sentence in his style. At least it didn't say I write like Homer Simpson. peace,,,,,,
Funny, I did two writing samples. The first came up with H. P. Lovecraft, and the second came up with Edgar Alan Poe. I'm a scary guy.
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