h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hee hee! I took four different parts of the book I'm working on.

The first part was like Chuck Palahniuk.

The second part was like David Foster Wallace.

The third part was like Ursula K. Le Guin

The fourth part was like Ian Fleming.

So much for having a work that's self-consistent!

I just tested the vocabulary theory. I took the first few paragraphs of Pride and Prejudice and fed them in. It correctly identified Jane Austen.

I then started to change some of the nouns. 'Wife' became robot, 'Mrs Bennet' became 'Zarxxon', Netherfield Park became 'Betelgeuse' etc.

Eventually it identified it as a work by Douglas Adams.

Heh-heh. Consistent with my crinoline theory. Good detective work.

Look at it from an advertising perspective. You want the person to put your device on their website and help you advertise. You wish to flatter them.

Now, a lady who writes about crinlines would probably be *flattered* to be compared to Margaret Mitchell - rather than horrified.

And a sci-fi writer in spe would probably admire the folks he's being compared to. (Okay, I'm weird, and really don't want anybody fainting when they read my stuff, Chuck P., but hey, de gustibus...)

If I go by the usual stupidity/naivete of people, I guess they must be quite successful. I wonder what is in it for them (money-wise). Did anybody sign up with them? I'm tempted, just to find out.

I think there's a lot of money in 'courses' that teach you how to achieve instant fame and fortune with your typing fingers, Bel.

Back 30 years ago, I subscribed for a while to 'Writer's Digest'. It was like reading the sort of tips you get in education courses - you know, the ones where they make up cute explanations for commonsense ideas, such as 'reduce Teacher Talking Time'.

Overpriced fun. I'm cheap, and unwilling to pay for stuff like this.

For example, I just bought an ereader, and immediately snapped up the offer of a free copy of a script for a new summer tv series.

Now, I won't even watch this series. Especially as the headless torso shows up on page three.

I just didn't want to pay money to learn details about the formatting of tv scripts.

Oh, that's what it is all about.

I should have guessed, really.

Heh-heh. But ain't it fun?

Absolutely. I just love the way they try to make me believe that I write like some famous author.

We *all* write like famous authors. Us.

The h2g2 School of Writing.

Someday, we will be more famous than the Algonquin Round Table.

My tablets entry that is lying around is apparently written in the style of Douglas Adams. Anyone feel like checking?

Definitely. Give us a link.

I should point out that I don't mean pill type tablets here, I mean the computer types.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A66820692

That's informative and factual, and I don't see how they got Adams out of *that*.

Adams wrote a lot of stuff in praise of the god Apple (is there some in Salmon of Doubt?)

Thanks Dmitri

This blog post* came out as being written like
Margaret Atwood, no idea who she is though.

*http://my.opera.com/mentholpenguin/blog/more-about-me

She's my favourite Canadian writer. Alais Grace, A Handmaid's Tale, Blind Assassin are just a few of her novels.

'A Handmaid's Tale' is wonderful. Atwood is a top-notch writer. (The film ain't bad, either.)

I agree, the film was goof, too. She's brilliant. I've read lots of her novels.

I haven't seen the film, but I've read Handmaid's Tale, Catseye , and Oryx and Crake, which is my absolute favourite.