Who do you write like? Find out here.

[Gee Whillickers]

This site examines writing samples to determine which famous authors most closely match your writing style.

http://markallenthornton.com/blog/who-do-you-write-like/

Apparently I'm similar to Charles Dickens, Philip K. Dick, and Samuel Pepys. Who knew?

[Cole Parker]

That's a pretty impressive group. Hope you're making as much money at it as they did.

C

[Cole Parker]

I just submitted two samples and came our with Charles Dickens on the top in one, Steven Crane number two, and in the other, Steven Crane on top. Does that mean my writing is maudlin?

Perhaps everyone writes like Dickens. I take that as quite a compliment.

C

[Cole Parker]

Hmmmm. I just gave them a third piece, and this time, the top name was PG Wodehouse, of all people. Now that makes little sense to me as Wodehouse was basically a humorist who satirized his times. The piece I submitted was On the High Plains, which is anything but a humorous piece.

Again, Steven Crane was high on the list. Maybe I should read something by him. I only know his most famous work.

C

[Merkin]

After warning me that the sample I submitted was 'too small' and the results of analysis could consequently be unreliable, the program decided that my style was a dead heat with Stephen Crane, Philip K. Dick, and Lucy Maud Montgomery. Stephen Crane occurs so regularly in these results that I am beginning to suspect his name is a paid promotion. I'm going to have to study the works of Ms. Montgomery--somehow she had previously escaped my attention. I am flattered at being mentioned alongside PKD.

[Gee Whillickers]

Given the differing results in Cole's various attempts, I'm going to have to try this again with other stories. And yea, like Merkin, it complained that what I submitted was too small to be reliable. Perhaps I should've pasted a whole story instead of a page or two.

[Cole Parker]

It surprised me, but I submitted whole stories, many thousand words, and it not only took them all, it still analysed them in no time flat. I don't quite see how they can do that with any subtlety or thoroughness. They can't be looking for much of a variety of styles that way, just a few parameters.

C

[Lugnutz]

I got Willa Cather. I was hoping it was like Tolkien since I patterned it from his story.

[FreeThinker]

I submitted Chapter 1 of Dance of the Wicked Boys and my list begins with Jack London, Stephen Crane, and Willa Cather? Hmmm. The writer I seem to be most unlike is Lewis Carroll. Curiouser and Curiouser. Apparently, Awesome Dude attracts writers who are similar to Stephen Crane. Perhaps he was one of us.

[Cole Parker]

Or more likely Merkin's suggestion of a nefarious plot to promote Steven Crane's writing is at work here.

However, according too Wikipedia:

Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

So maybe here's some substance to the analyses. The authors here are certainly innovative, creative and deal with realism and naturalism, although we don't stop there. We also dabble in imaginative, what-if sort of stories and frequently fantasy. I think it would be very difficult to define us with a few short words.

C

[Mihangel]

I tried, with the first section of a new story shortly to hit (I hope) a larger audience. Most like Bertrand Russell, it said, then Conan Doyle, then John Muir (had to look him up: 1838-1914, naturalist and environmental philosopher). Hmmm. Didn't think I had anything in common with Bertie Russell. Or any other philosopher, even environmental. Conan Doyle, yay!

[colinian]

Mostly I write like dead people.

Colin

[Mihangel]

This is a scam. I tried again with exactly the same passage as before, and it came up with totally different authors. I put in a large chunk of Hamlet, and where did Shakespeare rank in the similarity list? Thirtieth.

Pah!

[Merkin]

Thanks to Mihangel for having the wit to expose this bizarre test. And thank god I don't have to read any more of "Anne of Green Gables."

[ChrisR]

I pasted in the US Declaration of Independence and nearly all of the 'least like' authors were British. Seems pretty accurate to me!

(The methodology is somewhat explained near the bottom of the page.)

[JamesSavik]

Faulkner und Hemingway- in other words, I write like a drunk.