Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I Write Like . . .

Who do you write like?


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



Here's the passage upon which that judgment is based:

"Ghosts"

Why do we persist, so many through the generations, in straining our souls’ eyes and our flesh to discern a touch from those beyond death? Why a séance, a gasp at a breeze? Why do we imagine that a long-departed loved one--one we perhaps have rosier memories of than do those who knew him better-- cares for us more than do those here with us now? We are all so beleaguered by this world, so buffeted and strained with the business of living, that we haven’t time or capacity to be so all-focused on another, or to believe that anyone else can be so focused on us, not in this world. So we remember the tenderest moments, the closest care, the happiest days with those no longer enduring the storm with us, and we imagine that they have the attention to pay us, the longing to relieve us of our troubles, if only in our confidence.

But how blind we are, such short-sighted children, to reach for those just rescued from our shipwreck, those still trembling on the deck, wrapped in scratchy blankets, clutching tin cups of steaming coffee, having their faces dried by ministering hands. The same strength that has borne them up to safety, to solidity from our wobbly, leaky boat, is even now capably reaching for us, in fact has already grasped us, even before we know it. We are insensible, blinded by tears and rain, numb to the strong arms gathering us in. We look beyond those rescuing arms with feeble longing for those no stronger than ourselves, only rescued. They know they have nothing to offer us that is needful, all their best intentions swallowed up in His greater love.

Inspired by a passage from Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping: A Novel, the excerpt quoted here.

Cindy Marsch

July 3, 2009







I tried analyzing another passage, a post I made here called "The Mercy of Moonlight," and the judgment was this:



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


Then I tried a blog post, "Web Writing," just to see what might happen. I'm Margaret Atwood again.



So what about a really academic kind of thing, a paper on Middle English translation I wrote in a grad school class? Here's the verdict:



I write like
H. P. Lovecraft
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!



Well, then.

Want to try? Use one of the links in one of the boxes above.

4 comments:

GretchenJoanna said...

Well...I tried, and tried again, and again, for a while, mostly my blog posts, which are about many things. It's very addictive! I got both of those writers that you did, and about 12 others. How do you suppose they analyze? By vocabulary? The result is displayed so instantly I can't imagine what other factors could be analyzed.

GretchenJoanna said...

When looking up Lovecraft, I stumbled upon this blog post about this "I Write Like" service, which combined with the comments paints a picture of a small database of possibilities. It was fun, but I wish I knew how they made their assessments.

GretchenJoanna said...

oops, forgot to leave you the link:

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/07/14/who-do-you-write-like/

Cindy Marsch said...

Thanks for the link. It does look like a small pool of writers. I'm so glad I got DeFoe the first time! :-)