Writing Style

Jenny · Jul 18, 2006

This question's been nagging at me - What kind of writing style do people aim for? and does it vary according to the type of writing you're doing? So, forget plot, characters, setting, etc - what words do you choose to use and how do you arrange them? Are you conscious of varying the length of your sentences? Of choosing longer or shorter words? Of using Saxon or Norman words [don't ask me the details, but someone years ago once wrote that the Saxon words in English are shorter and more powerful.] What decisions do you make about your writing style? What are you striving for? Do you try to follow a great writer's style?

My goal is to write simply so that the words don't get in the way of the story. The words convey the story and then vanish from the reader's memory. Which is probably why I can't write a literary story to save myself.

Just out of interest, do you have a different writing style for day job writing (either bureaucratise or academic) and novel writing? Where do you pin the difference and is it just the absence of jargon in your novel writing?

And talking about jargon, do we ever fall into the trap of using it in our writing, in particular in genre novels? Are there little shorthand phrases which convey concepts sci fi or romance readers are already familiar with, and is using these phrases a good or bad thing? [Now I'm trying to think of an example phrase ... maybe some of the advanced space travel technology.]

Anyway I just wondered if anyone had any ideas that might prompt a thought that improves my own writing style,

Jenny

spacejock2 · Jul 18, 2006

My style depends on the POV character. One of my characters is quite educated and formal, and so he describes his surroundings with slightly more complex words. The other is a crash-bang type of guy with limited powers of perception and a smaller vocab, so when the reader and I are sharing his POV we get simpler language.
It's not conscious on my part any more - I just get into character and describe what's going on.

veinglory · Jul 18, 2006

I pretty much write the point of view and let the style take care of itself...

LeeFlower · Jul 18, 2006

Are you sure it was saxon and norman and not saxon and latin? Because I've heard Saxon words are more powerful than latin ones, and I can see where that comes from. Compare "Assassinate" to "Murder" and "Nativity" to "Birth." Latin words are easier to hiss; Saxon ones are easier to yell.

Personally, I like mixing up sentence lengths a bit because reading eight long sentences in a row can be monotonous, and the occassional short sentence can really help to break it up and keep it interesting. It's all about rhythm.

I guess I pay attention to diction in as much as I try to find the best word for what I'm trying to say, but I don't count up how many saxon vs how many latinate words I'm using or anything. Word choice is extremely important to me in dialogue-- I'd rather have a character say something that sounds like a hiss because of the sound of the consonants than have one 'hiss' something.

SpookyWriter · Jul 18, 2006

Nice thread started.

I had brought up diction once before here and received some good thoughts on the subject. I think the choice of a single word can become overbearing if one is to describe the nuance of behavior in a more classical way. I'm not convinced that mass market genre writing requires a distinction between Saxon, Latin, or Anglican. Murder would most likely work well in a conventional story, whereas, assassinate is a good choice for an international thriller.

Shouldn't writing styles fluctuate between works? One story might require more elevated diction where another one would be southern redneck. The drawl of a farm boy from Alabama is going to require a good ear and a lot of mechanical practice of the writing to get it just right.

I would love to study the use of various word origins more in depth. I think we can always expand the use of words and the elegance of diction in our work.

I also liked your thoughts on sentence construction. The long and short work great in various context. Suspense is shortened and powerful.

Thanks for bringing this up and listening to my ramblings.

Kristen King · Jul 18, 2006

I am conscious of varying my sentence length, but by and large I let my characters do the talking and just polish it up a bit. If you were to put two of my unrelated pieces side by side, you can probably tell (or at least have a suspicion) that they were written by the same person, but they're generally fairly different from one another.

Kristen

spacejock2 · Jul 18, 2006

SpookyWriter said:
Shouldn't writing styles fluctuate between works? One story might require more elevated diction where another one would be southern redneck. The drawl of a farm boy from Alabama is going to require a good ear and a lot of mechanical practice of the writing to get it just right.

True, but in my case I'm writing novels in the same series.

Also, are you talking about dialogue or narration? I was referring to the latter, where one character might mention a 'a merchant vessel' while the other sees 'a ship' or even 'a boat'

janetbellinger · Jul 18, 2006

I don't think about writing style at all. I just focus on making sure I am making the story and characters compelling and making sure I don't use cliches etc.

LeeFlower · Jul 18, 2006

I also wouldn't worry about trying to be 'literary.' The best 'literary' novels weren't trying to be literary; they were trying to be good.

Write a good story and let critics argue about the rest.

spacejock2 · Jul 18, 2006

janetbellinger said:
I don't think about writing style at all. I just focus on making sure I am making the story and characters compelling and making sure I don't use cliches etc.

I'm not suggesting anyone go overboard with this, but giving each character a slightly different POV voice does help the reader keep their bearings too.

One gotcha, for example, is when a character who knows next to nothing about cars describes a particular model for the reader, right down to the year of manufacture, the number of cylinders and the engine capacity. That's the author slipping into the text, and it should be resisted as much as possible. They'd just call it a 'red sports car' and not a ''99 Dodge Viper with a custom paint job'

On the other hand, if your POV character is a car nut then go for it.

reph · Jul 18, 2006

LeeFlower said:
Are you sure it was saxon and norman and not saxon and latin?

It comes to the same thing. Norman French developed from Latin. French is a Romance language.

I'd say something about my writing style(s), but I'm not a novelist, so I won't.

Vomaxx · Jul 18, 2006

Jenny said:
[don't ask me the details, but someone years ago once wrote that the Saxon words in English are shorter and more powerful.]
Jenny

Yes, Anglo-Saxon words are often shorter and more powerful (than words derived from Latin). Several of the particularly forceful ones have only four letters.

SpookyWriter · Jul 18, 2006

spacejock2 said:
True, but in my case I'm writing novels in the same series.

Also, are you talking about dialogue or narration? I was referring to the latter, where one character might mention a 'a merchant vessel' while the other sees 'a ship' or even 'a boat'

Both actually. Narrative from severals work of one writers style can be significantly different. Some writers will produce literary work and then mass genre stuff. I write in several styles and try to mix up my writing so I don't become predictable.

Dialogue is similar to style, but not quite the same. The choice of words in dialogue must be believable and consistent with the character and their social standing.

maestrowork · Jul 18, 2006

I seem to have a unique style -- I guess, but it does vary to some degrees based on what I write. My horror stories read differently than my literary stuff, and my sci-fi is different from my contemporary. But I think you will see some common elements of style in all of my work.

LightShadow · Jul 18, 2006

I yearn to write like me.

badducky · Jul 18, 2006

Whenever I think I'm done with something, I try to edit it in half. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Style magically occurs as the many voices clean up.

SpookyWriter · Jul 18, 2006

my granny beat me as a kid bekause of my writng problems. but i learned enogh to get by fine. i kepted learneing until i was good like my big brodther and now it is eazy for me to tell my storys. i think my style is okay but i want to be better like them rich folks.

NightWynde · Jul 18, 2006

My story style will vary depending on the sub-genre type of tale I'm telling. Straight up slasher pieces tend to have a lot of short, punchy sentences with lots of action and what little dialogue there is I try to make it sound like it has been spit out. Since my slasher pieces focus more on mass murderers of the "Mom or wife who has had it" variety as opposed to the serial killer type then I try to use structure that makes sense for that particular niche.

On the other hand, if I'm telling a psychological piece or a modern ghost story I'll slow down the pace with longer sentences and a more complex dialogue.

My final sub-genre type is classical monsters with some sort of sarcastic, twist to them. For these I'll mix it up to keep the reader guessing. One of my favorite tricks is to have a long, elaborate paragraph followed by a short and punchy one with the intent that the reader will feel like he or she has "slammed into a wall."

tu_sense · Jul 18, 2006

Interesting topic.

I think for me it varies. I know that sometimes I purposely set certain restrictions on my writing to see what the result will be. But this mostly applies to short stories. In something that's novel length, I am conscious of style, but not as strictly as I am in regard to a shorter work. I try to let the voice and all that develop from the characters in something that's novel length.

SpookyWriter · Jul 18, 2006

Prove it folks! Don't tell me about variations in writing style, just do it! Remember, show don't tell.

So far, everyone is quite proper. Eck! I would like to see at least one person demonstrate the variant styles or plain vanilla.

Like Nike said, "Just do it!"

badducky · Jul 18, 2006

Isn't that what we have a share your work forum precisely to achieve?

Example of my style:
go to my sig, click on either link, and find out about my writing for yourself if you're curious.

SpookyWriter · Jul 18, 2006

badducky said:
Isn't that what we have a share your work forum precisely to achieve?

Example of my style:
go to my sig, click on either link, and find out about my writing for yourself if you're curious.

Might be true, but what's a little style in a forum where the question is about writing style? If I have to poke about to distinguish the various styles then it defeats the purpose (of the question). How hare is it to change the style of writing messages here to show the differences without tracking down everyones unique techniques?

Jamesaritchie · Jul 19, 2006

style

I believe writng style is extremely important, and I also believe style should match the story being written. I'm always conscious of style, which should not mean trying to affect a style. Conscious of style should mean conscious of story and character.

Style is what sets the mood and tone and feel of a story. No story is independent of the style used to tell it. Poor style, bland style, or inapproprite style can all kill a good story, or, at best, leave the story less than it should be.

Joanna_S · Jul 19, 2006

It definitely depends on the project, though I always sound like me. As for things like sentence variety, yes, I'm a big believer in it. My website has a section where I expound about my views on a couple of writing-related subjects and that's one of the topics. Ah, websites: the places where we talk to strangers who probably went there by mistake.

-- Joanna

Laurie · Jul 19, 2006

My novel is about two women from different times so the writing is different depending upon whose story is being told. One was a more 'genteel' time and the writing style reflects that. Getting into the character's head, it was only natural to write it that way. But then, I'm an emotional writer. Style is often a subconscious choice.

Writing Style

Jenny

Who should be writing ...

spacejock2

veinglory

volitare nequeo

LeeFlower

Lurker Extraordinaire

SpookyWriter

Kristen King

spacejock2

janetbellinger

LeeFlower

Lurker Extraordinaire

spacejock2

reph

Fig of authority

Vomaxx

SpookyWriter

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

LightShadow

defender of the blahs!

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

SpookyWriter

NightWynde

tu_sense

SpookyWriter

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

SpookyWriter

Jamesaritchie

Joanna_S

Laurie