Like This

A few years ago my writing partner Elizabeth pointed me to the website “I Write Like” (iwl.me).  As I mentioned in my last post, I don’t emulate anyone in particular, but, like most writers I pick up some traits of those I read.

Back when I first tried I Write Like, it was hardly surprising that its first answer was H. P. Lovecraft.  I’d been reading a lot of Lovecraft at the time, and I sent in a sizable sample of my writing.  Oh, and it also suggested Stephen King.

Elizabeth tried it and also came up with Stephen King, despite the fact that her writing was, at the time, young adult and geared towards talking cats.  Perhaps Mr. King has written so much that it is hard not to sound like him?

I’ve written thousands and thousands of words since I last visited the website.  Not really sure I’d still find it available, I was pleased to see it there.  I’ve been experiencing a reading malaise, and I needed to recharge my dry cells.

Copying several pages of my latest story, I pasted them in the box and waited.  Only one answer this time: Dan Brown.  I blinked.  Dan Brown?  What a depressing thought!

Yes, Brown writes books that become instant bestsellers, but his writing, in my experience (I’ve only ever read Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, the latter only because someone gave it to me) his writing is thin and doesn’t strive for the artistry I do.  Maybe it’s time to go back to bed.

There was a link to share with my friends.  I don’t think so.  Where was Poe?  Melville?  Hawthorne?  Lovecraft?  

Perhaps, like Stephen King, Dan Brown writes so much that it’s hard for a random sample not to sound like him.  If I write like Dan Brown, why do I have such difficulty finding publishers?  I’m not buying it.

I may not be a professional, but I do know one thing beyond a doubt.  I write like K. Marvin Bruce.