I write like...

Daithi · 10-12-2011, 05:11 PM

Here is a fun site that supposedly analyzes your writing and tells you who you write like. I tried a couple of things I have written and they tend to come back as either Cory Doctorow (which I can live with) or Dan Brown (which is embarrassing). However, it does seem to return the same answer if you enter the same text, so it's not just picking writers at random.

In any event, it looked like fun, so I thought I'd post it here. So, who do you write like?

I just entered the above post and in comes back Cory Doctorow.

Bikeridr · 10-12-2011, 05:52 PM

P. G. Wodehouse.

Here's the text I sent for sampling:

--
How about me being you and you being me?
There's also the aspect of both being somebody else. At the time, all of us seem to act as somebody not recognised by whom they should.
Therefore, we'll all be best suited as whoever we wish to be.

In another point of wiew, our outside contact with the non-species of our kind, it may best come out as that everybody else is us and us being everybody else.
--

So, if any of you copy the exact text and paste it in, see if it comes out with another author, based on which country/area/IP it is sent from.
Currently I'm at sea, so this was submitted via satellite having an uplink in UK.

beppe · 10-12-2011, 05:57 PM

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

Who is he?

Is he cool? Is he good?
That is what I wrote
I would like to make you happy. Happy as much as it can be. I got this idea. To ask the Goddess to let me reincarnate in a better myself. Physically better. Younger, slimmer, with bluer eyes and blonder hair. Taller and stronger so that I can move you around more easily, the way you like it.

To do so, I have to say good bye to all. Bye. Then I have to get to the Goddess, or at least to let her know of my desire. That’s not so hard: I just have to think at her. Having her listening to me it might be hard. But finally, one day, here I am, I am knocking at your door.
Yes?
It is me, dear. I am back.
The voice is not the same.
Who are you, what do you want.
Let me explain. I need to talk to you.
That is not the right approach. She closes the door, and through it she says go away, or I' ll call the police.
Do not. I am him. You do not recognize me, but it's me. I am back.
What? You are crazy.
I say the name that I gave to the drink I invented for her some time ago. Do you remember? It is me, nobody else would know that.
The door opens.
Who are you? What are you? Get in.

Daithi · 10-12-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikeridr

P. G. Wodehouse.

Here's the text I sent for sampling:

--
How about me being you and you being me?
There's also the aspect of both being somebody else. At the time, all of us seem to act as somebody not recognised by whom they should.
Therefore, we'll all be best suited as whoever we wish to be.

In another point of wiew, our outside contact with the non-species of our kind, it may best come out as that everybody else is us and us being everybody else.
--

So, if any of you copy the exact text and paste it in, see if it comes out with another author, based on which country/area/IP it is sent from.
Currently I'm at sea, so this was submitted via satellite having an uplink in UK.

I just posted your quote and it came back P. G. Wodehouse for me as well, so it looks like whatever the site is doing is based on some kind of examination of the text.

It would be nice if they described how the algorithm worked. I could see developing something that looked at average sentence length, number of adjectives per sentence, length of words, number of adjectives, adverbs, etc. Actually this would make a pretty good project for a neural network type of program that you train.

I tried entering a short quote from a Proust book and the website guessed Lovecraft. However, I entered something from Frankenstein and it guessed Shelley.

Bikeridr · 10-12-2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

I just posted your quote and it came back P. G. Wodehouse for me as well, ...

I did the same with beppe's text, and it also came back as Chuck Palahniuk, so it seems that, as you suggest, they are using an algorithm of some sort.

So, lets see how consistent we are. I'll make another text tomorrow (night now in Europe) and see whom I am then.

Nyssa · 10-12-2011, 06:35 PM

Hmmm..I tried two samples. One was a Facebook post to other parents and the other was a status update on Goodreads about a book I'm currently reading.

The Facebook post generated: Cory Doctorow and the GoodReads post generated:Vladimir Nabokov.

I'm not familiar with either author.

Falcao · 10-12-2011, 06:37 PM

I put two academic articles and the answers were Cory Doctorow for one and William Gibson for the other.

I put a third article, this one in Spanish, and the answer was William Shakespeare!

*** Edit ***

I wrote some random insults in Spanish and the answer was James Joyce

beppe · 10-12-2011, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

I just posted your quote and it came back P. G. Wodehouse for me as well, so it looks like whatever the site is doing is based on some kind of examination of the text.

It would be nice if they described how the algorithm worked. I could see developing something that looked at average sentence length, number of adjectives per sentence, length of words, number of adjectives, adverbs, etc. Actually this would make a pretty good project for a neural network type of program that you train.

I tried entering a short quote from a Proust book and the website guessed Lovecraft. However, I entered something from Frankenstein and it guessed Shelley.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikeridr

I did the same with beppe's text, and it also came back as Chuck Palahniuk, so it seems that, as you suggest, they are using an algorithm of some sort.

So, lets see how consistent we are. I'll make another text tomorrow (night now in Europe) and see whom I am then.

The algorithm is short and sweet. They count words and punctuation marks. They have a very limited base and project the text on it. Pattern recognition.

Phogg · 10-12-2011, 07:31 PM

It says I write like David Foster Wallace.
I will put Infinite Jest on my TBR and see if I agree.

mr ploppy · 10-12-2011, 07:40 PM

Hmm. I pasted in something I wrote earlier about someone putting a pair of underpants on their head and chopping up a dead body with an axe, and it said I write like Margaret Atwood.

I pasted in something I wrote about glue sniffing earlier this year and it said I write like Chuck Palahniuk. I had to look up who he was, but this statement about his writing rings true for me too: "The characters are people who have been marginalized in one form or another by society, and who react with often self-destructive aggressiveness"

straygator · 10-12-2011, 08:19 PM

I tried multiple excerpts from my short stories and novel, with results ranging from James Fennimore Cooper to David Foster Wallace. I came up "Ursula K. LeGuin" three times, though - not sure I see the similarities, but I'll take it. (Yeah, too much free time this evening . . .)

beppe · 10-12-2011, 08:33 PM

Very funny.
I tried this text.
The manager of my love affairs (she is the receptionist at work), she keeps challenging me. But there must be one that you were in love more than with the others. If I say yes, just to stay in her game, than she says. Ahah, that is the one you loved. Yes dear, and what I feel now is just a minor viral disturbance? She, that knows most of the details, becomes thoughtful again and offers me a coffee from the machine.

It is not that I stopped loving the first one because I felt in love with the second one. I felt in love with the second one after I stopped loving the first one. And why did I stop loving the first one? Eh ... If I knew that I would patent it.

With the nth of the sequence (great cook, fantastic nest decorator, sweet and pretty as they come, intelligent also, sense of humor, pure joy) we thought we had it well under control. Yeah. Where is she now? Who knows.

I think that one can be in love (i mean like you say, head over heels) with only one. At the time. For as long as possible, for as long as it lasts.
Gertrude Stein

But only this fragment
The manager of my love affairs (she is the receptionist at work), she keeps challenging me. But there must be one that you were in love more than with the others. If I say yes, just to stay in her game, than she says. Ahah, that is the one you loved. Yes dear, and what I feel now is just a minor viral disturbance? She, that knows most of the details, becomes thoughtful again and offers me a coffee from the machine.
Stephen King

And this
It is not that I stopped loving the first one because I felt in love with the second one. I felt in love with the second one after I stopped loving the first one. And why did I stop loving the first one? Eh ... If I knew that I would patent it.
Leo Tolstoy I like that

And this
With the nth of the sequence (great cook, fantastic nest decorator, sweet and pretty as they come, intelligent also, sense of humor, pure joy) we thought we had it well under control. Yeah. Where is she now? Who knows.
Stephen King again

Finally
I think that one can be in love (i mean like you say, head over heels) with only one. At the time. For as long as possible, for as long as it lasts.
Raymond Chandler

What to think? I might have some potential, but what a split personality

TDF · 10-12-2011, 08:41 PM

Apparently

Quote:

Once upon a time there was a little girl, named Mary. Mary went for a walk in the woods and was eaten by a hungry bear. Poor bear. The end.

...means that one writes like Mark Twain. I've so much untapped potential.

Figlilly · 10-13-2011, 05:21 AM

I think it is just choosing words and matching them with what a particular author may typically use. My first paragraph had the word 'demon' and it chose Anne Rice. My second paragraph talked of carriages so I got Arthur Conan Doyle. My last choice got Neil Gaiman. I haven't worked out why yet. All are paragraphs from a story I wrote. I guess I should be pleased that they are all good authors but wow, what a variety.

kennyc · 10-13-2011, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Hmm. I pasted in something I wrote earlier about someone putting a pair of underpants on their head and chopping up a dead body with an axe, and it said I write like Margaret Atwood.
....

I tried a couple of excerpts and got Chuck Palahniuk and Lewis Carroll........"Off with her head!"

10-12-2011, 05:11 PM	#1
Daithi Publishers are evil! Posts: 2,418 Karma: 36205264 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rhode Island Device: Various Kindles	I write like... Here is a fun site that supposedly analyzes your writing and tells you who you write like. I tried a couple of things I have written and they tend to come back as either Cory Doctorow (which I can live with) or Dan Brown (which is embarrassing). However, it does seem to return the same answer if you enter the same text, so it's not just picking writers at random. In any event, it looked like fun, so I thought I'd post it here. So, who do you write like? I just entered the above post and in comes back Cory Doctorow. Last edited by Daithi; 10-12-2011 at 05:14 PM.

10-12-2011, 06:37 PM	#7
Falcao Banned Posts: 1,344 Karma: 1028477047 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Nueva Andalucía Device: Sony PRS 650	I put two academic articles and the answers were Cory Doctorow for one and William Gibson for the other. I put a third article, this one in Spanish, and the answer was William Shakespeare! * Edit * I wrote some random insults in Spanish and the answer was James Joyce Last edited by Falcao; 10-13-2011 at 02:21 AM.

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10-12-2011, 05:52 PM	#2
Bikeridr Information Acquirer Posts: 436 Karma: 4265156 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Latvia, Rigas Rajons Device: Kindle 3 International, Pocketbook Color	P. G. Wodehouse. Here's the text I sent for sampling: -- How about me being you and you being me? There's also the aspect of both being somebody else. At the time, all of us seem to act as somebody not recognised by whom they should. Therefore, we'll all be best suited as whoever we wish to be. In another point of wiew, our outside contact with the non-species of our kind, it may best come out as that everybody else is us and us being everybody else. -- So, if any of you copy the exact text and paste it in, see if it comes out with another author, based on which country/area/IP it is sent from. Currently I'm at sea, so this was submitted via satellite having an uplink in UK.

10-12-2011, 05:57 PM	#3
beppe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,161 Karma: 81026524 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Italy Device: Kindle3, Ipod4, IPad2	I write like Chuck Palahniuk Who is he? Is he cool? Is he good? That is what I wrote I would like to make you happy. Happy as much as it can be. I got this idea. To ask the Goddess to let me reincarnate in a better myself. Physically better. Younger, slimmer, with bluer eyes and blonder hair. Taller and stronger so that I can move you around more easily, the way you like it. To do so, I have to say good bye to all. Bye. Then I have to get to the Goddess, or at least to let her know of my desire. That’s not so hard: I just have to think at her. Having her listening to me it might be hard. But finally, one day, here I am, I am knocking at your door. Yes? It is me, dear. I am back. The voice is not the same. Who are you, what do you want. Let me explain. I need to talk to you. That is not the right approach. She closes the door, and through it she says go away, or I' ll call the police. Do not. I am him. You do not recognize me, but it's me. I am back. What? You are crazy. I say the name that I gave to the drink I invented for her some time ago. Do you remember? It is me, nobody else would know that. The door opens. Who are you? What are you? Get in.

10-12-2011, 06:35 PM	#6
Nyssa Series Addict Posts: 6,180 Karma: 167189477 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Florida, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)	Hmmm..I tried two samples. One was a Facebook post to other parents and the other was a status update on Goodreads about a book I'm currently reading. The Facebook post generated: Cory Doctorow and the GoodReads post generated:Vladimir Nabokov. I'm not familiar with either author.

10-12-2011, 07:31 PM	#9
Phogg PHD in Horribleness Posts: 2,320 Karma: 23599604 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.	It says I write like David Foster Wallace. I will put Infinite Jest on my TBR and see if I agree.

10-12-2011, 07:40 PM	#10
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Hmm. I pasted in something I wrote earlier about someone putting a pair of underpants on their head and chopping up a dead body with an axe, and it said I write like Margaret Atwood. I pasted in something I wrote about glue sniffing earlier this year and it said I write like Chuck Palahniuk. I had to look up who he was, but this statement about his writing rings true for me too: "The characters are people who have been marginalized in one form or another by society, and who react with often self-destructive aggressiveness"

10-12-2011, 08:19 PM	#11
straygator Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 33904 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cayman Islands Device: Kindle	I tried multiple excerpts from my short stories and novel, with results ranging from James Fennimore Cooper to David Foster Wallace. I came up "Ursula K. LeGuin" three times, though - not sure I see the similarities, but I'll take it. (Yeah, too much free time this evening . . .)

10-12-2011, 08:33 PM	#12
beppe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,161 Karma: 81026524 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Italy Device: Kindle3, Ipod4, IPad2	Very funny. I tried this text. The manager of my love affairs (she is the receptionist at work), she keeps challenging me. But there must be one that you were in love more than with the others. If I say yes, just to stay in her game, than she says. Ahah, that is the one you loved. Yes dear, and what I feel now is just a minor viral disturbance? She, that knows most of the details, becomes thoughtful again and offers me a coffee from the machine. It is not that I stopped loving the first one because I felt in love with the second one. I felt in love with the second one after I stopped loving the first one. And why did I stop loving the first one? Eh ... If I knew that I would patent it. With the nth of the sequence (great cook, fantastic nest decorator, sweet and pretty as they come, intelligent also, sense of humor, pure joy) we thought we had it well under control. Yeah. Where is she now? Who knows. I think that one can be in love (i mean like you say, head over heels) with only one. At the time. For as long as possible, for as long as it lasts. Gertrude Stein But only this fragment The manager of my love affairs (she is the receptionist at work), she keeps challenging me. But there must be one that you were in love more than with the others. If I say yes, just to stay in her game, than she says. Ahah, that is the one you loved. Yes dear, and what I feel now is just a minor viral disturbance? She, that knows most of the details, becomes thoughtful again and offers me a coffee from the machine. Stephen King And this It is not that I stopped loving the first one because I felt in love with the second one. I felt in love with the second one after I stopped loving the first one. And why did I stop loving the first one? Eh ... If I knew that I would patent it. Leo Tolstoy I like that And this With the nth of the sequence (great cook, fantastic nest decorator, sweet and pretty as they come, intelligent also, sense of humor, pure joy) we thought we had it well under control. Yeah. Where is she now? Who knows. Stephen King again Finally I think that one can be in love (i mean like you say, head over heels) with only one. At the time. For as long as possible, for as long as it lasts. Raymond Chandler What to think? I might have some potential, but what a split personality

10-13-2011, 05:21 AM	#14
Figlilly Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 2514066 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis 2&3, Paperwhites, Kindle Touch, Kobo Clara, IPad Air2	I think it is just choosing words and matching them with what a particular author may typically use. My first paragraph had the word 'demon' and it chose Anne Rice. My second paragraph talked of carriages so I got Arthur Conan Doyle. My last choice got Neil Gaiman. I haven't worked out why yet. All are paragraphs from a story I wrote. I guess I should be pleased that they are all good authors but wow, what a variety.