Posted by Jon
Fancy a few moments of literary fun? If so, I may have the perfect diversion for you…
“I write like…” is a website that provides a:
Fancy a few moments of literary fun? If so, I may have the perfect diversion for you…
“I write like…” is a website that provides a:
statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers
I started by pasting in a few of my fictional short stories (from a collection published earlier this year, available from all good bookstores – not that you know my pseudonym, of course, as I don’t mix business and pleasure!). Apparently, they vary between Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyer. (And no, they don’t feature vampires, before you ask!).
Next, to a recent Proposal Guys entry – which apparently reads like Joyce. (Hold on: is my writing here that incomprehensible?). I then threw in a few winning proposals I’ve written in the past year or so. Three of the five examples I tested were apparently in the style of H.P. Lovecraft – described by Stephen King as “the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale”. The other two came out as similar to Cory Doctorow, the Canadian sci-fi writer. (OK, so my proposals are scary and deal with entirely imaginary worlds?!).
Although I don’t claim to understand the metrics that lead to the site’s conclusions, or to vouch for the exercise’s scientific validity, it was interesting to see that there’s a fairly consistent style in my fiction writing, and a consistent but different style in the way I write proposals.
Anyone fancy playing? Whose writing is yours most like? And – especially interesting to know – can you spot any trends between winning and losing proposals that you’ve submitted?
Next, to a recent Proposal Guys entry – which apparently reads like Joyce. (Hold on: is my writing here that incomprehensible?). I then threw in a few winning proposals I’ve written in the past year or so. Three of the five examples I tested were apparently in the style of H.P. Lovecraft – described by Stephen King as “the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale”. The other two came out as similar to Cory Doctorow, the Canadian sci-fi writer. (OK, so my proposals are scary and deal with entirely imaginary worlds?!).
Although I don’t claim to understand the metrics that lead to the site’s conclusions, or to vouch for the exercise’s scientific validity, it was interesting to see that there’s a fairly consistent style in my fiction writing, and a consistent but different style in the way I write proposals.
Anyone fancy playing? Whose writing is yours most like? And – especially interesting to know – can you spot any trends between winning and losing proposals that you’ve submitted?
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