I Write Like

There is a new website called I Write Like which analyzes your writing and determines, with statistics, what author your writing style is like. The logarithm only compares to about 50 authors, three books each, so it isn't a very complete formula. But it's fun.

After learning about this website, I decided to see who my writing style most compares to and asked the site to analyze every posting from this blog for the month of July. It turns out that I write like Cory Doctorow (who?). Well, at least four out eleven postings were like his.

My July posts were also like the writing styles of Chuck Palahniuk, H.P. Lovecraft (two instances), David Foster Wallace, Stephenie Meyer, Stephen King and Harry Harrison. I have only read work by three of these folks and none of them are authors that I would consider an influence.

In fact, I don't really consider my writing to be influenced by anyone at all. I read a lot but I don't pay much attention to style. If anyone, I'd say that Hunter S. Thompson has made an impact only because I like his creative use of Capital Letters and I like to mimic that. But otherwise, I am not educated enough about creative writing to even know how to be influenced by others.

So, who the hell is Cory Doctorow? It seems that he is "a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist". He has a website called craphound.com. He won some awards and such. We were born the same year. He is from Canada.

I've never heard of this person until yesterday nor have I ever read anything he has written. Ever. Yet, it seems that I write like him. Maybe it's a generational thing. Who knows.

Of course, it can't be helped that our voices will sound like others - it's part of our society to mimic. Have you ever spent time in another part of the country and found yourself, after a while, adopting the vocal tones and phrases of the way locals speak? It's impossible not to, right? So, I am sure that writers of a certain time all have a similar way of expressing themselves.

Anyway, I think I have concluded that in the end I Write Like Kitty Gordon. And that is just fine with me.

I Write Like of the Day:

Cory Doctorow. Again. Well, how about that.