Thanks to a post on Emily Ann Shaffer’s blog, I spent a happy five-minutes being distracted by the I Write Like website. All you have to do is paste a couple of paragraphs onto the page and by clicking a button, the website uses a statistical analysis tool that matches your writing style to that of a famous author. I’m always struggling to think of which published authors my writing resembles so, in spite of my scepticism, I gave it a go. I was hoping to be matched with someone like Anne Tyler but the computer said no. The name it came up with was Chuck Palahniuk and as I’d never heard of him, I got back to my writing.
But Chuck’s name has stayed with me and I decided to have a look on the internet to find out more. Wikipedia says he is best known for his award-winning novel Fight Club which was later made into a feature film earning him a cult following. That leaves me none the wiser but I’ve just asked my sixteen-year-old son who’s playing a silly computer game next to me on the desktop and he tells me it’s a great film, one that made Brad Pitt famous and that the book is even better.
Suitably informed, I’ve watched the Fight Club trailer on You Tube and will be reserving the book at the library.
I also checked out the official Chuck Palahniuk website, where I found a link to 13 writing tips from the author. Now this is more my thing, with advice including:
- Get author book jacket photos taken now, while you’re young. And get the negatives and copyright on those photos
And, more seriously, he talks about the three different types of dialogue:
- descriptive: the sun rose high….
- instructive: walk, don’t run…
- expressive: ouch!
According to Chuck, most fiction writers only use one or at most two of these forms. So he recommends using all three. Mixing them up to show how people really talk.
Now that bit of advice has been worth the distraction.
the writer is a lonely hunter 
Oh I love this. I wonder who I resemble. Now that surely is a mix of many influences.
Have a go! It’s just a bit of fun!
I tried this Gail and feel you were right to be sceptical. I put in three different pieces of my writing and came up with Douglas Adams, Chuck Palahniuk and James Joyce (!!!!). I can only assume it checks out the vocabulary you use against some used by these authors. James Joyce ha – must tell Chris!
It’s a bit of fun, but one that took me on an interesting journey!
I agree – at least I haven’t let it go to my head! By the way, went to Weald and Downland yesterday and we really enjoyed it, thanks for the recomendation.
I look forward to hearing more at WWG
I also submitted three different texts, the results were Ian Fleming, William Gibson and Margaret Atwood. Should I triangulate these responses, or just keep going until I get an author I am truly satisfied with? : )
Good question!
I did this a while ago (or one very like it) and came up as most like Stephen King. Just tried it now and came up as most like Stephen King … on three different extracts. So if you’ve ever wondered what a romance by Stephen King would be like, you should probably read one of my books.
Has anybody ever wondered about Stephen King writing romances?
That would be something!
Wow, thanks or that web site addy….I shall be cutting and pasting a few paragraphs in later 😉
Xx
This is fun. I tried two pieces, the first result was Ernest Hemingway! I hardly dared try another but did and up came James Joyce. Thought I’d better stop right there.
I don’t blame you stopping there!