Who Do You Write Like?

How much does the weather feature in your stories?

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Paul Whybrow

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Jun 20, 2015
Cornwall, UK
When I worked as a librarian in the 1970s, in a posh branch at Marylebone, London, we used to keep a small section of reference books in the lending department, which could answer common queries; there was a large reference library upstairs.

One of the most commonly consulted reference books was called Who Writes Like?, which enabled avid readers to discover writers similar in style to their favourite authors. This tome had already been around for decades, and has since been renamed Who Else Writes Like?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Else-Writes-Like-Readers/dp/1905499418

Nowadays, it's also available as a fee-charging website: An Introduction to Who Else Writes Like...? - Who Else...? from LISU

Another literary reference book listed fictional character names, which in the pre-internet age was anxiously thumbed by writers hoping that the chosen name for their protagonist hadn't already been used. These days, it's sensible to check online that your unique creation isn't already striding across the pages of someone else's book!

I previously posted a thread asking what your influences were, but who you write like isn't entirely the same thing. For instance, I've given up on reading several crime novels since I started writing my own, and the bad writing I rejected has served as a salutary influence on what not to do. Stuff like info-dumps, getting technical facts incorrect and having a plot so preposterous, that any reader would be incapable of suspending disbelief for long enough to give it credence.

As my detective stories are set in Cornwall, I have a sinking feeling that should I ever appear in Who Else Writes Like?, I'd be compared to well-known authors who set their stories in the county—Daphne du Maurier, Arthur Quiller-Couch and W. J. Burley, who at least wrote detective novels.

With my crime writing, I attempt to emulate Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane and Lawrence Block for the way that they create fully-rounded protagonists, setting them in landscapes that become as much characters as the goodies and baddies. For humorous interaction between my coppers, I'd do well to be compared to the masterful Andrea Camilleri, whose Inspector Montalbano investigations set on Sicily are as amusing as they are intriguing; he writes really well about food too—I always feel hungry while reading his stories.

Reading Walter Mosley has inspired me to include more random thoughts in my detective protagonist's mind, even while he's questioning a witness or suspect, for Mosley manages to effortlessly juggle several trains of thought.

Who do you write like—consciously or without noticing that you've done it?

Has anyone ever said to you that they were reminded of another author by your writing?

Or, to put the question another way, who would you be flattered to be compared to?

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I write like JK Rowling says this app. I write like Robert Louis Stephenson also according to this app. And I write like Stephen King.

This variance depending on whether I paste in a slow section or a fast section.

How does one reconcile those very different voices?

It's about rhythms, I suppose.

But if it was Daphne du Maurier...I'd be delighted.

Try it for yourself.

https://iwl.me/
 
I write like this, mostly:



No, seriously, I try my best not to write like anyone (other than trying to sound like the voice in my head. (Not sure if that's a good thing.) Whenever I start a new novel, I avoid reading anything similar. Also, being a non-native English speaker, might actually be an advantage. I haven't had the literary lessons which schools pass to their pupils, meaning my English isn't necessarily 'influenced'. I learnt English as a second language which taught me some grammar, not style. I suspect, I use language in a way native speakers might not use it, hence I don't necessarily sound like anyone. (Just incoherent at times). But if I do, let me know.
 
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I think the author I'd most like to write like is Anne Rice. But I'm not sure about that either. She did a lot of historical research and while I'm perfectly willing to enjoy the results of her historical research its not something I do or am about to do. I don't want to write historical horror.

Who do you write like—consciously or without noticing that you've done it?

There's this website:

I Write Like

Today it tells me I write like Agatha Christie. I'm sure this would make her roll over in her grave. If I paste one particular story in the box I tend to get Anne Rice. It's a story with a lot of florid description. Maybe the tool is counting adjectives and adverbs. Sometimes I get Corey Doctorow. I played with this thing a while ago and I'm sure the results don't mean anything. One night -- I sometimes have time on my hands -- I used this tool with writers who were published and I used some of my writing as well as the writing of other people I knew. It's all pretty random it turns ouot.

Has anyone ever said to you that they were reminded of another author by your writing?

Yes. Although, I'm sure he's rolling in his grave too. My friend didn't mean it literally.

Or, to put the question another way, who would you be flattered to be compared to?

I think it's flattering to be compared to other authors but ... I don't want to write like anyone else but myself.
 
I write like JK Rowling says this app. I write like Robert Louis Stephenson also according to this app. And I write like Stephen King.

This variance depending on whether I paste in a slow section or a fast section.

How does one reconcile those very different voices?

It's about rhythms, I suppose.

But if it was Daphne du Maurier...I'd be delighted.

Try it for yourself.

https://iwl.me/

Fangs for this link...it bloody well says that I write like Anne Rice! Mind you, I wouldn't mind having her book sales. Admittedly, one of my Cornish Detective novels features a husband and wife team who prey on holidaymakers, killing them and consuming their flesh, but it's been ages since I sucked at anyone's jugular or carotid artery.
 
I pasted in 3 short paras from different places in the MS. Action, reflection, dialogue.

It's measuring patterns of rhythm I expect.
 
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I wonder, if you pasted in a few pages of a Stephen King novel, would it suggest you write like Stephen King?
Or would it come up as like someone else depending on which bit you choose?
I suspect you are right about it depending a lot on the pace of the section you put in.
 
I wonder, if you pasted in a few pages of a Stephen King novel, would it suggest you write like Stephen King?
Or would it come up as like someone else depending on which bit you choose?
I suspect you are right about it depending a lot on the pace of the section you put in.

This was part of my experiment last year. Famous authors didn't bring up their own name.
 
Did you try different samples of your writing? You'll get different responses.

I did. I got Agatha Christie twice, and Steven King once.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm just really, really baffled as to how I can ever be compared to Christie in any meaningful sense.
 
I think it indicates who you are most like not necessarily that you are very like them. I'm also not sure how many different author styles it choses the "best match" from, it may be only a few different authors. The preponderance of Stephen King results is in itself interesting.

Certainly that was how I read it for me. I can't think that my writing comes anywhere near that of Stephen King, or any of the others for that matter.
 
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How much does the weather feature in your stories?

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