What is Writing Style?
It is not about what you write. It is all about how you write. It is not about content but form. For example, you can say the same thing in so many ways:
- It was easy to use!
- Very useful.
- It did the job.
- Works just as advertised.
What are the rules of style?
There are no hard and fast rules of style. No one way to write is “better” than another. However, there are valid general rules and techniques that can make your work more interesting and compelling for the reader.
Writing is an art, not a science. The wrong way can be the right way depending on the mood or context you, as an author, are trying to create.
My own guideline is to follow style rules unless I know the writing is better some other way. Here are some of the style rules:
Why avoid wordiness?
There are two separate meanings to this writing rule. The first one means to avoid using more words than you need. Be tight in your sentences. Use one unique adjective to describe instead of numerous ho-hum adjectives. Avoid adverbs altogether. Simplify each sentence to convey the information your reader needs. Long run-on sentences bore readers. Lengthy dialogues and sentences often lose the writer’s original intent.
The second aspect of avoiding wordiness means not using long, abstract, unfamiliar words. As an author of children’s books, I like to throw a “hard” word in once in a while. I want to stretch my little readers. If I did this too often, I would lose my fans. Don’t write like a lawyer just to look smart. It’s all about ease for the reader. When the reader stumbles over numerous unknown words, they miss the story you are trying to tell.
Reach for the rhythms of spoken language. I find that reading my work out loud helps. My prose should be as easy to listen to as a gifted speaker.
Should you show, not tell?
This might be the most quoted and well-known style rule. Still, it is worth repeating because this is a habit that most writers need to be on the lookout for. I know that often I write my first draft in a telling mode just to get the story down and cohesive. I go back to my second draft, looking to change narrative into dialogue. I change “telling” into “showing” whenever possible. Don’t give the reader words when you can paint a picture. I like to think of each chapter as a scene in a movie. Let the characters show the story. Your readers will appreciate it.
Is it better to use the active voice?
Yes! The active voice means that the subject of a sentence is doing the action of the sentence. I, having had a grandmother from Ireland, have to watch out for my own bad habit of reversing sentences. For example, this sentence is in passive voice: “The house was surrounded by the sheriff and his deputies.” A better and more powerful sentence would be: “The sheriff and his deputies surrounded the house.”
Does it help to be specific?
If I tell you that I got bit by a dog on my way home from work, you can’t really relate. However if I tell you that a German Shepard chased me down Main Street and bit me in the leg on my own front porch, you have a complete scene you can picture clearly.
There is so much more to style, which we will discuss in the next post.
Karen Boyce
Karen Kelly Boyce lives on a farm in N.J. with her retired husband. She is a mother and grandmother. She is the author of “The Sisters of the Last Straw” series published by Tan Books. You can see her work and learn more about her on her website: www,kkboyce.com