Relationships & Partners and Writing Skills Tips. (A Writing Advice Guide Book

Lecture On Style of Writing

Lecture On Style of Writing

So far, we've studied some of the elements of good writing; choosing concise words, varying sentence structure, using parallel construction, and so forth. Just as a musician must learn scales, a writer must master the basics. Only afterwards is the artist free to develop his own distinct style. Now that you've touched on the basics, it's your turn to experiment with style.

There are many features that contribute to writing style. Use one of your favorite authors to try to discover these features. Referring to a book you love, answer the following questions about style:

• Are there lots of adjectives? Are the verbs strong?
• Are the sentences long or short? Does their structure vary? What structure does the writer prefer?
• Are the paragraphs long or short? Does their structure vary?
• What sort of rhythm is achieved within the sentences and paragraphs?
• What's the flavor or tone of the writing? Is it intellectual, poetic, authoritative, humorous?
• What kind of language does the author use? Formal? Informal? Does the writer use dialect or slang?
• Are the descriptions highly detailed or more general?
• Is the emphasis on plot? character? setting?
• Is there lots of dialogue?
• Does the writer use lots of devices, like imagery? Metaphor? Symbolism?

Of course, it's not easy to define the style of an accomplished writer. A great writer creates a style and language particular only to her work. This style is earned through lots of effort and self-honesty.

Writing Exercise Prompt
1. Let's see if you can define your own writing style. Referring to a story that you've recently written, answer the questions listed above. Feel free to add to the list of questions.

Imitating A Writer—Style In Action
1. This is an entertaining and helpful exercise that will acquaint you with the nuances of style.
Simply write a page imitating your favorite author. You can choose from poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Before beginning, identify the qualities of the writing style. Feel free to exaggerate these features. Afterwards, read your piece to the class. The results are often humorous!

My Creative Writing Teacher at my North Carolina told me my writing style is very Shakespearean when she read over some of my  projects in class. It makes sense because I'm highly fond of how William Shakespeare wrote his plays and grew up reading them over and over again in my Reading Comprehension classes and English classes back in all my public Ohio schools.—Lumna10.