Who Do You Write Like?

Did the online quiz get it right?

Which contemporary author do you most write like? I stumbled upon an online quiz that promised to tell me this vital piece of information. The website promised it would only be one minute and I was gearing myself up for an hour or two of writing, so I took the quiz.

I suspect it was a bit tongue in cheek, and I answered the questions in that spirit. Obviously, the quiz only had a limited number of results. Still, I found the result interesting, if not flattering that my writing could be in the same league as the esteemed Arundhati Roy! Perhaps if I stick with writing long enough, I may win the Booker Prize or top the New York Times bestseller list?

I have read The God of Small Things more than once and it is a beautiful novel; beautiful even when it depicts scenes of human cruelty, violence and injustice. Beautiful despite such ugly things. If my novel, once finished, is half as good as Roy’s, then I will be very happy with myself.

But to come back to my original question, who do you write like? I don’t think my writing is that much like Roy. She is an Indian author, living and working in India, whereas I’m Australian, and have mostly lived and worked in Australia.

I don’t aspire to write like someone else, even if it is someone as successful as Roy. I write for myself, primarily, but I write every day to develop my own style and voice. I write so that I can write like myself. For all of you aspiring writers out there, know that you don’t have to write like anyone else, just yourself.