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sailorhathorIncase you haven't heard, that "Who do you write like?" quiz doesn't really analyze your writing style. That's a lie. It analyzes your "word choice." (In other words, certain words are connected with certain writers, and if you use those words, you will get that writer.)
I kinda knew this after I saw some of your results on my friends list. I've made javascript quizzes before, and having that knowledge, knew that analyzing anybody's "writing style" and comparing it to the writing style of famous writers would be quite, well, impossible to accomplish this way. Online quizzes are accomplished through comparison, percentages, stuff like that, so essentially it would have to find stuff that you do in your writing and then compare it to stuff that famous writers do in their writing and... just thinking about it gives me a headache. There's no way anyone is going to do that, which would require months of analysis of the writing of famous authors before you could even start coding the quiz, for your five minutes of entertainment. Especially not for free.
This is why online quizzes are multiple choice. It's very easy to compare answers and then give a result when you can say, "If quiz taker answers A for question 1, they are Result 1. If quiz taker..." and so on.
The quiz simply gives results based on what words you put in and nothing more, and I can prove it.
I had some fun. I did not enter any actual story, just words, and here's what I got.
Words I put in: maine maine maine snow snow snow church graveyard monster isolated writer dark ayuh cat
Result:
GEE! Isn't that curious?
Words I put in: vampire werewolf love bite depressed I can't live without you
ROFL!
Words I put in: witch wizard magic latin jelly beans abra cadabra
Trying to get Dean Koontz, I put in: phosphorescent southwest house bush landscaping, tedious descriptions of houses and landscaping, intelligent dog, hurried unsatisfying ending, canon mary sue, still entertaining, though
Okay, I was being a smartass that time, but still... (Seriously, read a few Dean Koontz books. He uses some form of "phosphorescent" in every damn book.
I do find his books entertaining, but it's easy to poke fun at 'em, hee.)
Words I entered: robot android planet space computer star dwarf supernova spacecraft galaxy universe
A science fiction writer, isn't that curious.
Words entered: mystery gun knife murder elementary candlestick study library poison arsenic body investigator police the butler did it
By this time, this result should be no surprise.
Because I am a mischievous little imp, I did one more.
Words entered: vampire vampire vampire vampire vampire
XD XD XD XD XD *Dying over here*
I'm a bit perplexed by the fact that everyone's so horrified and offended to find out that the quiz isn't honest and that it doesn't really analyze your writing. Instead, the quiz makers are just trying to sell books. Why does this surprise anybody? There are ads for "how to get published" books on a quiz that tells you you write like a famous, admired author. Ummmm... errrr...
All online quizzes have ads on them (unless they were made by a fan for their little fansite, and even some of those have ads). Why did people expect the guys from... *Looks*.... Coding Robots to be experts at writing analysis?
I don't mean to be a bubble-burster or a bitch about it, I just don't get the *GAAAASP, I have been deceived!* reaction. ^_^??
I kinda knew this after I saw some of your results on my friends list. I've made javascript quizzes before, and having that knowledge, knew that analyzing anybody's "writing style" and comparing it to the writing style of famous writers would be quite, well, impossible to accomplish this way. Online quizzes are accomplished through comparison, percentages, stuff like that, so essentially it would have to find stuff that you do in your writing and then compare it to stuff that famous writers do in their writing and... just thinking about it gives me a headache. There's no way anyone is going to do that, which would require months of analysis of the writing of famous authors before you could even start coding the quiz, for your five minutes of entertainment. Especially not for free.
This is why online quizzes are multiple choice. It's very easy to compare answers and then give a result when you can say, "If quiz taker answers A for question 1, they are Result 1. If quiz taker..." and so on.
The quiz simply gives results based on what words you put in and nothing more, and I can prove it.
I had some fun. I did not enter any actual story, just words, and here's what I got.
Words I put in: maine maine maine snow snow snow church graveyard monster isolated writer dark ayuh cat
Result:
GEE! Isn't that curious?
Words I put in: vampire werewolf love bite depressed I can't live without you
ROFL!
Words I put in: witch wizard magic latin jelly beans abra cadabra
Trying to get Dean Koontz, I put in: phosphorescent southwest house bush landscaping, tedious descriptions of houses and landscaping, intelligent dog, hurried unsatisfying ending, canon mary sue, still entertaining, though
I write like
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Okay, I was being a smartass that time, but still... (Seriously, read a few Dean Koontz books. He uses some form of "phosphorescent" in every damn book.
I do find his books entertaining, but it's easy to poke fun at 'em, hee.)
Words I entered: robot android planet space computer star dwarf supernova spacecraft galaxy universe
A science fiction writer, isn't that curious.
Words entered: mystery gun knife murder elementary candlestick study library poison arsenic body investigator police the butler did it
By this time, this result should be no surprise.
Because I am a mischievous little imp, I did one more.
Words entered: vampire vampire vampire vampire vampire
XD XD XD XD XD *Dying over here*
I'm a bit perplexed by the fact that everyone's so horrified and offended to find out that the quiz isn't honest and that it doesn't really analyze your writing. Instead, the quiz makers are just trying to sell books. Why does this surprise anybody? There are ads for "how to get published" books on a quiz that tells you you write like a famous, admired author. Ummmm... errrr...
All online quizzes have ads on them (unless they were made by a fan for their little fansite, and even some of those have ads). Why did people expect the guys from... *Looks*.... Coding Robots to be experts at writing analysis?
I don't mean to be a bubble-burster or a bitch about it, I just don't get the *GAAAASP, I have been deceived!* reaction. ^_^??
