I Write Like Stephen King (and have the badge to prove it)

This morning, I indulged in some fun and used the Coding Robots writing analyzer to analyze a snippet from the Manuscript That Shall Remain Nameless to see which author I write like. It concluded I write like Stephen King.

Whenever I visit my friend Willow Croft’s blog, I see her “I write like James Joyce” badge. Which always impresses me because Joyce is one of those revered literary authors. The kind that gets taught in English classes. (Or used to, before books became so controversial. Who knows if his books are banned now or not.)

Anyway, it always conjures “smart” and “clever” in my mind, and that’s totally what Willow is. And I always figured she’d gotten that designation from some kind of literary group she belonged to or something. It wasn’t until today that I read the fine print beneath the badge that invited anyone to analyze their text.

“Huh,” I thought. “I wonder which author I’d get?”

My mind was on Joyce-types, not anyone contemporary. Who would it come back with? Or would it say, “Sorry. No matches.”? (Because a literary writer, I am not.)

For Nameless, I Write Like Stephen King

I almost plugged in a snippet from one of my posts on Haunt Jaunts, but then I decided to pick one of the creepier parts from Nameless. And that’s when, to my surprise, it came back with the result that I write like Stephen King.

Which was pretty cool. He’s always been one of my favorite authors. For years growing up, he always seemed to have a new book out right around my birthday or Christmas. It made for an easy gifting choice for Wayne. (Receiving a King or Koontz book still thrills me to this day.)

And when I first decided I wanted to try my hand at fiction writing, King was who I wanted to emulate. Until I realized he’s already writing like King. I wouldn’t mind the comparison, but I want to write like Courtney Mroch. (Or C. Le Mroch, if I still decide to use that pen name for any horror I may write.)

Still, it was a fun result to see. Especially as I think I’ve almost finally narrowed down a name for Nameless.

Out of Curiosity

With my curiosity piqued, I wondered who it would say I wrote like for The Ghost of Laurie Floyd or Haunt Jaunts.

For Haunt Jaunts, it said Dan Brown. Consistently, in fact. (I put in snippets from a few different posts to see what it came up with each time.)

But for The Ghost of Laurie Floyd, it once again gave me the, “I write like Stephen King” result.

Cool. Now I have just have to employ the work ethic of King and finish what I’ve started!