This morning I analyzed my writing style using the "I Write Like" site that's so popular at the moment. Everyone's doing it. I threw in my blog post about making The Last Refugefor analysis.
Thanks Leah! I admit I've never read James Joyce. And only minimal Clarke. I like newer sf stories.
WSM, I agree. My friend the Renaissance Oaf plugged in numerous examples and got numerous outcomes. I think it's either pseudo-random, or looks for some small phrasing to make a decision.
Another way to debunk this is to analyze a short story, say, Superiority by Arthur C. Clarke. The result: H. P. Lovecraft. We shouldn't expect 100% accuracy, but still, that is a good-sized sample of text.
The other example I tried was the Tell-Tale Heart by Poe, which came out with Vladimir Nabokov.
It's an interesting idea but I agree that it looks like just a gimmick---a simple algorithm.
Posts over 14 days old have their comments held in moderation - I've been getting an unusual amount of spam for a guy who paints trilobites. I'll release it lickety-split though.
Apparently, my nonfiction is like James Joyce and my fiction is like Stephen King. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
I've given this thing three different writing samples and gotten three different "you write likes". I'm skeptical.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leah! I admit I've never read James Joyce. And only minimal Clarke. I like newer sf stories.
ReplyDeleteWSM, I agree. My friend the Renaissance Oaf plugged in numerous examples and got numerous outcomes. I think it's either pseudo-random, or looks for some small phrasing to make a decision.
Yeah, I wish they'd give some sort of explanation about why your writing resembles a specific writer. Otherwise, it seems kind of fortune cookie-ish.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to debunk this is to analyze a short story, say, Superiority by Arthur C. Clarke. The result: H. P. Lovecraft. We shouldn't expect 100% accuracy, but still, that is a good-sized sample of text.
ReplyDeleteThe other example I tried was the Tell-Tale Heart by Poe, which came out with Vladimir Nabokov.
It's an interesting idea but I agree that it looks like just a gimmick---a simple algorithm.
Lovecraft? That's hilarious. Did you see Margaret Atwood said over Twitter her writing came out as "Stephen King"?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree Oedipus. Fun for a lark only. I admit, I really only posted it so I could use the "...indistinguishable from magic" line my own way.