Find Out What Famous Author You Write Like

At Joann's Best I discovered a fun little site that analyzes your writing samples and then tells you what famous author you write like based on your word choice and writing style. Since I was curious, I used several random samples from the book I wrote in memory of my dad, "My Funny Dad, Harry."

At first, I just picked a couple to see if the results would match. They did not. So then I chose more random samples (20 total) from my book to see what authors came up most often. I questioned if it was just a rotation automatically that came up, but there were repeats and once I got the same result twice in a row. I repeated a section I did earlier to see if I would get the same result, and I did! You can use lengthy samples for better results. Here's what came up for me:

Kurt Vonnegut 1 time

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Corey Doctorow 10 times

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Stephenie Meyer 3 times

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Stephen King 5 times

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Chuck Palahniuk 1 time

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

This was pretty fun.  It also shows you some of the books written by these famous authors.  Go ahead and try it at I Write Like.



To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here. Tweet This

One Memory I Wish Would Disappear (Writer’s Workshop)

I went to dad’s one February Friday,
Just like any other work day.
This horrible day the door was still locked.
The lights were off and the paper was still on the porch.

Why, oh why?

I used my key to go in the upstairs door.
The downstairs lock was broke so the key wouldn’t work.
That’s why dad always opened it for me from the inside with his letter opener.
I noticed the cats were laying quietly, no greeting from them today.

Why, oh why?

Uh oh, something is wrong, did dad over sleep?
I hope he’s okay and did not die yet, he is 89.
I hurry downstairs and call out to him. . . . silence.

Why, oh why?

He’s not in the kitchen, or the dining room or the living room either.
I look some more and find him in the bathroom,
On the floor against the tub,
Naked. His legs are dark purple!

Why, oh why?

He’s not waking up, I’m scared he’s dead.
I try to find a pulse but can’t, his chest isn’t moving!
I call 9-1-1.
They tell me to get him flat on the floor to do CPR.
I can’t, he will not budge.

Why, oh why couldn’t he just die in his sleep in the chair?

Related Post: The Day Dad Died God Gave Me Special Cat Time

This is in response to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: Write a poem about a memory you sometimes wish would disappear.

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here. Tweet This

What To Do BEFORE Rearranging Furniture

When my parents decided to rearrange furniture in our house growing up, Harry would pull out some graph paper and make a scale drawing of our room and then cut out pieces to scale of the furniture they would have in that room. I think the scale he used was one square on the paper equaled one foot in reality.

I remember my dad made a scale drawing of the rooms in my house and all our furniture to scale on little pieces of paper so I could try different arrangements before moving in. It really is a great way to make sure things fit without having to keep re-measuring and without wasting a lot of time and effort moving things back and forth. It was fun trying different arrangements on paper without any effort.

One thing to keep in mind when doing this though is to measure furniture with drawers open and mark on your room drawing where the windows, doors and outlets are located so you can see if your furniture pieces will cover them up or not. This also helps you get an idea of the walk space you will have between the pieces which especially comes into play for small rooms with lots of big pieces, like our bedroom.

I was reminded of this when I came across Housewife Eclectic: Rearrange Your House Virtually. It never ceases to amaze me what things one can find on the Internet. Somehow, I think dad would still get out his graph paper and make his own scaled drawing and furniture pieces. He just enjoyed doing that sort of thing. For me though, I think I’ll bookmark that site and use it the next time I do major furniture rearranging.

(I told you he was smart even though he did not graduate!)

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here. Tweet This

You May Be Surprised (writer’s workshop)

People would be surprised to learn that my dad did not graduate high school even though he was one to follow the rules and wasn’t lazy or stupid. Harry was never a follower or a leader. He was his own person with just a couple close friends. Harry minded his own business and had strong convictions and a strong will which could be seen as stubbornness. On more than one occasion I called him a “stubborn old man” usually under my breath so he couldn’t hear me. He did not just become stubborn in his old age though; he had a lot of practice. Harry never graduated high school because he refused to give an oral book report. Apparently, his English teacher also had a stubborn streak and did not give him an alternative. Granted, you could argue that he was stupid then but Harry loved to learn things, just not fiction. He had no use for it and in his mind, it was a waste of time. Nor was he an outgoing person so getting in front of a class and talking was probably just too scary for him. I’ll never know for sure because it was my mom who told me this, not him.

This post is in response to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop prompt: People would be surprised to learn that . . . .

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here. Tweet This