Two Mirrors of the Same Voice
What two analyses revealed about how I write
I ran my professional Substack through SubstackVoice first.
Then I ran my personal one.
The results were different in a way that felt accurate.
My professional writing came back as The Steady Elder.
My personal writing came back as The Close Observer.
Both describe something true, but they describe different parts of the work.
The professional Substack is where I write to think.
It is where I look at the intersection of technology and human impact.
It is where I try to make sense of the shift toward AI native engineering from the inside.
I am speaking to engineers who are close to the work, returning to hands on building, and navigating change in real time.
That is the posture of the Steady Elder.
It steadies the reader by naming the feeling, then stepping back to examine the system around it.
The personal Substack is different.
It is where I write about mental health, family, and the way working with our hands influences the mind.
It notices first.
It stays close to the body.
It does not try to resolve anything.
That is the Close Observer.
It pays attention to what is small and specific and lets meaning emerge on its own timeline.
Seeing the two analyses side by side made something visible that I had not articulated.
The professional voice looks outward at systems and the people inside them.
The personal voice looks inward at the mind and the forces that move it.
Both are part of the same writer, but they serve different purposes.
What struck me most was the precision of the archetypes.
Dr. Teodora Szasz has built a framework that does not flatten writers into categories.
It reveals patterns that are already there. As someone who spends their day looking for patterns and anomalies in data, that appeals to me.
I’m also curious to run my writing that I don’t share through the analysis to see how it compares with the writing I share with the world
I subscribed to her paid Substack because I want to study the other archetypes and understand where my voice sits and where it stretches.
I can also see the writers who might challenge me, the ones who work in shapes that are not my own.
This kind of analysis does not tell me who to be. It helps me see the shape of the work more clearly.
Attaching my personal assessment for anyone who is interested. You can see my professional substack assessment if you’re curious.
Author’s Note: In case it isn’t obvious, I’ve become a huge fangrrl of Dr. Teodora Szasz. Just one of the amazing authors here on Substack that I’m so glad I found.
Alison + Marlowe