A writer friend of my on FB introduced me to this site- it takes a chunk of your writing and analyzes it (it doesn't copy it or save it) to see which established author your writing is most similar to. I had to actually go through this several times since my writing style changes from story to story, lol (seriously, I have like 5 of these badges already from 5 different stories).

It can be both encouraging and startling to see the results (I got one hit for Isaac Asimov, and another for Dan Brown [but that might just be because the story is archeology-based in the opening and the whole ancient knowledge suddenly cropping up to affect modern lives bit is his thing]) and the site also offers sign-up for a newletter that has tips and advice on honing one's literary skills.



I Write Like . . . .

Fun!

I put in this chunk from an original story I'm writing

"The land outside was cold and harsh. Wind whipped between the mountains, following a path only it was capable of, whittling away at rock and plant alike. Nothing left open to the elements would survive this terrain, but, from deep in the bowels of a mountain cave the wind’s wail was reduced to a quiet moan, and its wrath could not reach this hollow hiding place.
Inside the cold, dark womb of the mountain little noises echoed against the stone walls; a drip of calcified water falling from the tip of a stalactite, the faint whoosh of water rushing through hidden veins in the mountains as if it were life-giving blood, and the quiet huff of exhalations. Some vestige of life sought to guard itself from the northern wind here.
"

and got "I write like Dan Brown!"

iwl.me/s/cfe99843

Hm... I'm not sure this is a good thing.

I, apparently, write like Stephenie Meyer. lol. At least, for Ex Umbra - the new story I'm writing, which I haven't posted on Dokuga yet.

For Breaking Faith, Moral Violations, and 1,000 Paper Cranes I write like Anne Rice.

This is really interesting. I think I'll be spending some time examining and testing all my stories to see my writing style.

Aurora Antheia Raine wrote:
Hm... I'm not sure this is a good thing.

I, apparently, write like Stephenie Meyer. lol. At least, for Ex Umbra - the new story I'm writing, which I haven't posted on Dokuga yet.

For Breaking Faith, Moral Violations, and 1,000 Paper Cranes I write like Anne Rice.

This is really interesting. I think I'll be spending some time examining and testing all my stories to see my writing style.

I submitted bits from both my original and fan fictions.

Eh, don't sweat that- I got the Meyer, too, when I entered the first 2 chapters from The Summoned, and you read the book, you know it's nothing like Twilight, but there it was, so I chose a different section of the story to submit (the two chapters when Bri and Kai-Yun are confronted by Yoru-Ssori and those other Demons in the park and combat ensues) . . . and that's when it came back with Isaac Asimov. The first two chapters of Stealing Heaven was what got me the Dan Brown badge.

Haha. I'm not worried; I just wasn't expecting to get Meyer of all people. The other three were pretty consistently Anne Rice and that was from different sections of the same stories too.

It does say that it takes our word usage, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything more than we like using the same or approximate vocabulary as the authors we apparently write like. XD

Yeah, when you catch me writing from a teenage PoV and throwing around words like 'verbose', then we know we've got a problem.

Very true!!

I posted this section of a story (non-fanfic) I'm working on...

“There may be no such thing as a good way to die, but this sucks way more than I was expecting…”

As the world shook under his feet, and the massive white block of the temple fell all around him like stalactites, the young hero realized, with a snort of irritation, that this was it. All of his years of waiting had come down to this moment.

This was his destiny: to die in a hail of rubble and dust, never to be seen again, his goals un-accomplished, his destiny unrealized, his gift deserting him in this hour of need, and his name meaningless, after all these years.

He could see the golden statue of Kemma, standing between the massive fallen blocks that stood between him and the exit, between him and the rest of his life. She seemed to be smirking at him; the young hero felt his gut clench at the imagined divine condemnation.

“Some hero I turned out to be.”

And I got Dan Brown. I have no idea who that is, Oh heck, Dan Brown is Da Vinci Code guy, isn't he!! That seems like an odd comparison... but I guess it's a good thing...?

Oh, I've heard of this site. My friends and I came across it ages back and it was weird, because it seemed like the site has this set list of authors to compare with, and the results are always totally random. :/

Yes, I've read both the Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol and he's a great author. The thing that always astounds me is that his books are really kinda long and yet the entire thing happens in like 24 hours. He's very detailed and meticulous and there's never a loose end . . . at least not that I've noticed and I'm usually a stickler for that sort of thing.

That's the impression I'm getting too, Naqaashi. (Did I spell that right?)

Freya-- I've never read his books, but I'm glad to hear that I got compared to a good author.

Just have to add that I typed this in the box;

"Run Spot, Run" Called Jenny, as the rain started to fall down. "Get in the house, before you get wet!

And it told me I write like Stephen King. >.>

Sp@ceMonkey wrote:
Just have to add that I typed this in the box;

"Run Spot, Run" Called Jenny, as the rain started to fall down. "Get in the house, before you get wet!

And it told me I write like Stephen King. >.>

LOL! It might not mean anything, but it sure made you laugh, didn't it? XD
In the end, that's all that counts.

Sp@ceMonkey wrote:
That's the impression I'm getting too, Naqaashi. (Did I spell that right?)

Freya-- I've never read his books, but I'm glad to hear that I got compared to a good author.

Just have to add that I typed this in the box;

"Run Spot, Run" Called Jenny, as the rain started to fall down. "Get in the house, before you get wet!

And it told me I write like Stephen King. >.>

Ah phooie- can't trust nuffin' anymore, lol.

*sigh* Oh, well. This was my first time hearing about it, I thought it might be useful and not hokum :/.

The size of the piece you put in might have to do with the accuracy. More data, better results kind of deal.

I put in a piece of 1st person creative nonfiction I wrote and it gave me Jane Joyce as the comparison. Never heard of her but now I'll probably be on the look out for her books at the resale shop.

Yes, you did, Sp@ce Monkey!

I don't know...I tend to think that each author is unique, and that unless you're actively copying, you cannot sound remotely like another author. That holds true even in niche genres, like Regency Romances for example. I read a ton of them, and though eventually the plots all have similar tools of advancement and the vocabulary is limited because of the speech patterns of that era...the authors all, without exception sound COMPLETELY different, to the point where after enough reading you can pretty much guess who wrote what if you were handed a random page to identify.

I put in 3 different samples of my writing from an original story (all from the same chapter) and got Stephen King, Dan Brown, and then Anne Rice.

So I think this is totally random lol... although I must admit it's still fun to do.

I would love to write like some of these amazing authors.

naqaashi wrote:
Yes, you did, Sp@ce Monkey!

I don't know...I tend to think that each author is unique, and that unless you're actively copying, you cannot sound remotely like another author.

Well, now, I don't think that's true, either- at least not entirely. I've been told from more than one source that some of my writing reminds them of Cassandra Clare and I've never read her work (I want to, and I keep meaning to, but every time I'm about to sit down and start on City of Bones crap comes up, but I digress). I've been told this about L.J. Smith as well- the author of The Vampire Diaries & The Secret Circle book series- and while I read some of her work growing up, I didn't start reading her again until recently and my writing style developed during that interim, I was already established in the way I write now by the time I picked up her work again. We're talking a more than decade long gap and books that I'd forgotten so much about that when I reread them just a year or two ago it was like they were brand new. In neither case am I 'actively copying' anything and yet I remind readers of other people.

But considering the writers I'm being compared to, I don't really mind it

This is awesome! I put in several different stories that I'm working on (all fanfics), and I got Anne Rice, Dan Brown, Stephen King, and then (oh my great goblin gosh!) I got Neil Gaiman! If no reason other than that, I like the site ^-^ Quirky writers are always the best!

M'kay...just did it again, with a different story, and got Will Shakespeare...Perhaps this means I'm just a good, all around writer? LoL! (I agree that some of it is probably random, but it might also have to do with what sort of words you use and what your phrasing is like. It's actually kind of cool the sort of algarythms they can come up with these days.)

*still playing* Now I get Jane Austen? Neil Gaiman AND Jane Austen? I have now landed in Happyville and I'm never going to leave!!

Anywho, this is a really cool site ^-^ Thanks for sharing!

Hmm.. I've seen this site before.... (still got the same results)

It tells me I write like Stephanie Meyer, H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King.

Stephanie Meyer though?

Lady Nefertiti wrote:
Hmm.. I've seen this site before.... (still got the same results)

It tells me I write like Stephanie Meyer, H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King.

Stephanie Meyer though?

Lmao- I think everyone that got Meyer as a result pulled that same expression.

I typed in this-
" The dampness of the forest alerted his senses of its inevitable death towards winter, but in the spring the snows would melt and the dampness would return to bring life. The woods will be reborn in a familiar cycle that poets spent lives depicting yet never able to fully relay the majesty of something so basic and natural. Death, which flooded him with pangs of useless remorse and selfish regret, was a familiar concept to Inuyasha and his only comfort was he had many, many years for those feelings themselves to die. All those closest to him were dead or lost, each one leaving behind something unique in him that he had not the eloquence to describe nor the character to give it justice. They were gone now, but he carried them with him always- their memories lightening his heart and acting as a reminder that at one point he was truly loved. One thing, however, was constant up until now; the dead remained dead.
But Kagome had come back."

And I got H.P. Lovecraft. TBH, I had to Google who that was *ashamed*

Then did this-
"Inuyasha truly had every disadvantage, from his half blood to this night when even that was not useful. He had been shunned by both races and casted out, yet had become strong. Through adversity he had earned respect and love, in contrast to the elder brother who was privileged with such at birth. Inuyasha fought with courage and passion and had become noble when the world labeled him useless."

And got James Fenimore Cooper.

Gertrude Stein and David Foster Wallace


of course, when I imputed different sections of the same chapter I also got: Anne Rice and Dan Brown lol

phishbon3s wrote:
Gertrude Stein and David Foster Wallace


of course, when I imputed different sections of the same chapter I also got: Anne Rice and Dan Brown lol

Unrelated: Your profile picture made my day.

cakeiton wrote:

I got H.P. Lovecraft. TBH, I had to Google who that was *ashamed*



o.O . . . had to . . . google Lovecraft? . . . . *falls over twitching* I . . . I . . . . oh, gods, it hurts.

I got Arthur C. Clarke? As in "2001: A Space Odyssey?"

Oh, then I tried another passage and got Gertrude Stein.

Yeah, this has got to be for entertainment value.