I’ve been prepping non-stop for the release of my new book, so I figured I could use a little diversion. Somebody posted a link on facebook to I Write Like, a site where you can see what famous writer you compare most to. In their words, “Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.“
For me, I’m sure my style varies project to project, but I decided to give it a whirl for INFECTED, my imminent book. Choosing five different sections, I got four:
And one:
Obviously, I’m flattered. And it’s tempting to agree. Palahniuk’s writing is visceral, raw, darkly comedic, and a hell of a lot of fun to read–all qualifiers I aimed for on this project.
And DFW? Well, here’s what NPR said about him:
To read David Foster Wallace was to feel your eyelids pulled open. Some writers specialize in the away-from-home experience — they’ve safaried, eaten across Italy, covered a war. Wallace offered his alive self cutting through our sleepy aquarium — our standard TV, stores, political campaigns.
Writers who can do this, like Salinger and Fitzgerald, forge an unbreakable bond with readers. You didn’t slip into the books looking for story, information, but for a particular experience. The sensation, for a certain number of pages, of being David Foster Wallace.
Of course, it kind of feels like a horoscope reading, where everyone is fated to lead an awesome life. I mean, honestly, who’s going to balk at being compared to a pair of geniuses? Something tells me you won’t ever input your writing and see the result:
So, just for fun (and because I really needed a diversion), I dug up some old writing I worked on in middle and high school. Here was the result of the analyzed opening text:
Which more or less proves, in my opinion, that there’s no “bad answer” to the program. Either that, or I was a genius on the level of Joyce in grade-school. Ha.
Still, it’s a fun diversion. Give it a try, what results do you get?
Author James Schannep 