Just Call Me the Next Cory Doctorow

Blogging, humor, lessons learned, technology, writing 2 Minutes

Thanks to D.G. Kaye for inspiring this post. Yesterday she wrote about an app she had come across called “I Write Like.”

The basic idea behind the app is that you paste a paragraph of your writing in the app and it tells you who your writing is like by analyzing word choice and writing style.

So I went to one of my favorite blog posts I have written: How a Scottish Shower Is Helping Me Become a Man and copied and pasted the following into the “I Write Like” app:

I thought I would share some of the benefits I’ve noticed during that time.

  • I feel a lot more confident. I was on an elevator the other day with a bunch of guys and I felt like I could body slam every one of them if I wanted to, since I knew I was the only guy on the elevator that probably had taken a Scottish Shower.
  • I’ve caught multiple women stealing glances at me on the train, which I’ve never experienced before.
  • My bench press doubled from 30 pounds to 60 pounds.
  • I’ve noticed people stepping aside to make room for me as I walked down the sidewalk.
  • I’ve started dropping the f-bomb a lot more, and I don’t care who’s within hearing range.
  • I just signed up for the NFL playoff package and the NBA and NHL season packages.
  • From scratch, I grew a full-beard that would make a lumberjack jealous.
  • Out of the blue, I drove down to Atlantic City and played no limit poker for six hours. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I didn’t care. I knew I could body slam every guy at the table if it came to that.

In other words, the Scottish Showers were making me more manly!

But as much as I’ve enjoyed these benefits, I’m not sure I will keep using this type of shower.

Can you imagine what I would be like after a month?

I might want to become an Accountant…

After a couple of seconds, here is what the app told me:

I have to admit that while I recognized Cory’s name thanks to Seth Godin, I did not know much about him.

Here is a brief excerpt from his bio on Wikipedia:

Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.

He has written dozens of novels, non-fiction, and novellas. And in case you did not know what Boing Boing is, it is one of the world’s most popular blogging sites.

After reading his bio, I wasn’t quite sure what we may have had in common.

Was it our thick black glasses?

Was it a love of Scottish Showers?

And then it hit me – there was the similarity. “I Write Like” must have picked up on the popularity of Boing Boing and Borden’s Blather, and just assumed achieving such popularity must require similar writing styles.

All kidding aside, given what I have read about Cory, he does seem like the kind of guy I would admire, so I am honored to allegedly write like him.

I do plan to read some of his work later this week…

To see who you write like, just click on the Cory Doctorow box above…

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

79 thoughts on “Just Call Me the Next Cory Doctorow”

  1. That is a great find with many interesting possibilities. Thanks for informing me. It would be great to find out I write like a real author. I’m afraid if the app matches me to a living writer, that person might sue the app for libel and defamation. Ha ha!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. How crazy! I just read a post by Cory Doctorow, who discovered that he wrote like Jim Borden. Cory didn’t reveal whether he had to Google your name. 🤣

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. I dropped a couple of excerpts into that app. They came out different, but the comparison that popped up most often was Stephen King – which is a shame since none of my excerpts were in his most popular genre. I think what it the comparisons were telling me was that I don’t know who I am yet.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. You may write in a similar fashion, and I will even agree that there is an uncanny resemblance, but can he juggle and does he hold a Doctorate Degree? Funny post, Jim! I haven try it yet, I think I am afraid to find out who my writing most resembles.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Cory probably realized long before I did that juggling and a PhD don’t get you too far. He just went out and started writing…

      Perhaps you might be compared to Walt Whitman, Carl Sandbeg, Robert Frost?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. I used to want to write like Patick White, O. Henry, Mem Fox, Roald Dahl or Edgar Allan Poe. I wonder would any of those names come up. Now, I think I’d rather just write like me. Only better. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I don’t know what a Scottish shower is, but now I feel intrigued. And to hell with Cory Doctorow. I just want a Scottish shower. I’m tired of being like Mr. Punyverse all my life. What the hell is a Scottish shower, and how the hell can I take one?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. I don’t think I want to know what a Scottish shower is! But I am laughing, for I tried the Cory Doctorow link and first submitted one of my favorite posts from 3 years ago and got Leo Tolstoy. Gee! I feel honored! Though I never have read War and Peace!
      Then I submitted one of the many parts of my Anna/Annie story and got Agatha Christie! LOL!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. My guess is that it is completely random; I’m tempted to submit the exact same passage I used before to see if I still get Cory. But Leo and Agatha sounds like quite the combo!

        Like

      2. I believe you are right and yes you should! 🙂
        Yes, Leo and Agatha, just so much alike, eh! But gee if I had Agatha’s money I could have my beach house! It said she was a billionaire!

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Isn’t this fun! I only had a vague idea of his name, so at least I’ve learned something today. I tried the link, and gave it an extract from a very old, and not totally serious, post called Sleepless In Epping. Apparently I write like Stephen King. But without his success 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. Noticing that someone else had been compared to Stephen King I tried a piece from one of my Tuesday Tunes posts. This gave me Arthur Conan Doyle, though I suspect that may be because my extract contained the word ‘mystery.’ Or is that too simplistic?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Never heard of him Jim. I don’t like the idea of comparing my writing with someone
    but I want to try this app because I’m can’t live without satisfying my curiosity 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Tell me about it. Haha I tried just now. And that was some pretty wild comparison. I pasted 3 different fictions. One is drama and I got Stephen King (a horror/thriller author) 🙄 Second is Scifi and it was J.K Rowling (she’s my fav) so I’m flattered. Third is a sweet love story and it was compared to Vladimir Nabokov 🤨 The lolita writer? Now I’m pissed! 😂

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment