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:
Cory Doctorow
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…
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!
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laughing… I think…
Good thing Doctorow is fairly liberal when it comes to copyrights… 🙂
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I’ve never heard of him. Sometimes I think I write like Yoda.
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I’m not sure if Yoda would be in the app’s database… 🙂
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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. 🤣
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If that is the case, Cory will likely be soon retiring from writing… 🙂
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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.
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I am guessing there is a lot of randomness in the app. I also wonder what would happen if Stephen King put some of his own writing into the app…
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it seems like there are many who emulate Stephen King’s style I was one of them the other was a Russian guy…so I am none wiser as to my writing style… but all good fun…
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It was a fun thing to try; I wonder what would happen if Stephen King tried it…
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Of course he would write like CarolT…its a given..giggle
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Of course he would; how silly of me.. 🙂
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Giggle 🙂
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I hadn’t heard his name before, but what a fun thing to do. I believe I may have to try it. Oh being that he is Canadian are you going to start working on the Canadian accent? 🙂
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eh?
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LOL! I had forgotten at first what I wrote and thought what does he mean by “eh!” ☺
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many times I forget what my blog is about 12 hours after I’ve written it…
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Haha! 😄
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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.
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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?
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Or Dr. Suess…😁
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Even better! 🙂
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and does he really know how to blather, like the master?
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given his success, it looks like he has moved beyond blathering to actually having something useful to say… 🙂
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one man’s blather….is another’s –
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🙂
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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. 🙂
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I think I’d want to write like Pat Conroy, but I like the way you think!
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I’ll have to check out Pat Conroy for myself.
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The Price of Tides is perhaps his most well-known book. I also liked The River Is Wide, which is a memoir of his one year of teaching…
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That one sounds interesting. Thanks.
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Oops – Prince of Tides…
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🙂 I didn’t notice. I was thinking of the River is Wide.
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Oops again – it is The Water Is Wide. I think I’ve got everything right – finally!
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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?
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I had to stop since I was scaring everyone I came into contact with. Here is the link that tells all: https://jborden.com/2017/01/07/how-a-scottish-shower-is-helping-me-become-a-man/
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Jeeminy shits. Okay, I’m going to try it. But only for 2 seconds, not a couple of damned minutes.
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I guess it depends how much of a man you want to become… 🙂
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2 seconds is enough.
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I guess I had a lot further to go to become a man…
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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!
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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!
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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!
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You could sit in your beach house and hire somebody to do your writing…
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I would rather hire someone to do the cleaning and cooking. LOL!
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Well if you are a billionaire, that can probably be arranged…
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😊
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Tolstoy? Christie? That’s strange. They weren’t even from Pennsylvania.
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And somehow despite that shortcoming, they were still able to make something of themselves…
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Hmm, I take it you’re from PA. So you probably have no difficulty understanding Carolyn.
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Oh gosh! No, he doesn’t! Just agree Jim! 🙂
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us Penn folks need to stick together; it’s our Quaker heritage…
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Yes, where else can one find whoopie pies and hog maw? 🙂
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I think I’d pass on the hog maw…
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None at all; especially when she talks about how much she likes my blog posts…
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LOL! Great Answer! 🙂
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Haha!
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LOL! Yeah, imagine that! Wonder if they know Pa.Dutch. 😛
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Imagine how famous they would have been if they could have thrown a little PA Dutch into their books… 🙂
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Yes “dummkopf” is such a fun word to use! Especially for certain people , who shall remain nameless, Tippy! 😃
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It’s a classic word…
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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 😉
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Do you also like writing about the supernatural and horror? 🙂
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Absolutely not. I’d scare myself!
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I’ve read one of Stephen King’s books – The Stand. It was a good read, but I have not felt a burning need to read more.
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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?
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It would be interesting to try that same piece and try it another day to see if you get the same result…
I’m just wondering if it is completely random…
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On my limited sample of two I’m pretty sure it is random!
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that’s what I thought!
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I saw Debby’s post, Jim, and thought this was fun. This app and I have agree from afar that I write just like Bram Stoker. I don’t need to provide it with words, intimidation was sufficient [giggle].
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it was fun to check out. and the intimidation would have been enough for me as well 🙂
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Gosh, I hope I don’t write much like anyone else. Otherwise, I hope to never be intangled in any legal transgressions.
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good point… 🙂
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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 😂
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I think it’s mor for fun, Jessica. I think it’s pretty random who they compare you to…
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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! 😂
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How nice that you At least got your favorite author. I also enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but I have not read any of her other books
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Me too. I only read Harry Potter series from her
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They were so good!
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