Peevish Pen

Ruminations on reading, writing, genealogy and family history, rural living, retirement, aging—and sometimes cats.

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Location: Rural Virginia, United States

I'm an elderly retired teacher who writes. Among my books are Ferradiddledumday (Appalachian version of the Rumpelstiltskin story), Stuck (middle grade paranormal novel), Patches on the Same Quilt (novel set in Franklin County, VA), Them That Go (an Appalachian novel), Miracle of the Concrete Jesus & Other Stories, and several Kindle ebooks.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Writing like—Huh?

There's a website that tells you which famous writer you write like. I decided to give it a try with my current work-in-progress, a middle grade novel. So, I pasted in a few paragraphs of the first chapter of Jacie's Challenge, thus:

I cantered Blaze through the woods, zigging and zagging to avoid the trees and rocks along the trail. When we jumped the creek and headed for the field, I hollered, “YEE-HAW!” My border collie Locket answered, “Wuff-wuff!” from somewhere in the woods.
When Blaze started up the hill, I dug my fingers into his mane and leaned forward. I clucked to him and loosened my grip on the reins to give him his head. Blaze broke into a gallop, and I felt like we were flying.
It was a perfect late March afternoon—sunny and only a little chilly, not cold like it had been last week.  And I’d gotten out of school a half day early because of a teachers’ meeting or something. My stepmother Liz had even picked me up so I didn’t have to ride the bus home.
At the top of the hill, beside the old graveyard, I reined Blaze in and let him nibble some grass while we waited for Liz and Thunder and Locket.
In about two minutes, I saw them come out of the woods. Liz slowed Thunder at the creek and made him walk through it instead of jumping. When Thunder saw Blaze, he nickered and broke into a canter. Locket ran back and forth behind Thunder, like she was herding him toward me. 

According to http://iwl.me, I write like James Joyce. See:


I write like
James Joyce
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Well, I decided to try again, this time with a sample from Peevish Advice. That couldn't be like James Joyce.

And it wasn't.  The site said this:


I write like
Mark Twain
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

OK, one more try. I pasted in a couple of paragraphs of the story that won first place in the CNU contest last March, and this was my result:


I write like
Dan Brown
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

That can't be right. It. Just. Can't.

On the other hand, Joyce Twain Brown would make a great pen name.
~

3 Comments:

Blogger Cherie Reich said...

Yeah, I tried the same site with different pieces of work I have. I got all different things from Dan Brown to Stephen King. I don't think the site really works.

4:57 PM  
Blogger Elena DeRosa said...

I tried the first couple of paragraphs of my memoir, soon to be fiction, and got Vladimir Nabokov.

6:05 PM  
Blogger Becky Mushko said...

The site's pretty much come-on to lure newbie authors into a vanity publishing deal. See http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012502.html#012502

6:13 PM  

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