10 Ways to Develop Your Unique Writing Style

When you think of "Writing Style" you consider the way the idea is presented, not really the idea, itself.

Consider this: a reader picks up a book usually because of content, but more often than not not, puts it down because of style.

1. Think About Style - According to Gary Provost, author of 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing "There is not subject that cannot be made more fascinating by a well-informed and competent writer. And there is no subject that cannot be quickly turned into a literary sleeping pill by an incompetent writer."

2. Listen to What You Write. Writing is a visual art. Provost says, "To write is to create music." So, as writers this of yourselves as composers, and think of your words as making muss. You must read aloud what you write and make sure it sounds melodic. Listen for dissonance. Listen for the beat. Listen for gaps in music. Listen for sour notes. Listen for instruments that don't blend well. As Provost says, "Its is the way in which you combine them that can make the writing succeed or fail. It's the music that matters."

3. Mimic Spoken Language.  Make your writing conversational. Of course, we're not talking about an exact duplicate of speech, oh,  no! What Provost means, is your writing must convey to the reader a sense of conversation. Don't make it an ordinary conversation, make it a good one.

4. Vary Sentence Length.  If you tried counting every sentence in every paragraph in every book all you'd end up with would be a headache. If you tried to make every sentence the same length in every paragraph what you'd end up with is a headache. Why? Because it would be boring. The sound drones on an on with no ending. Let your ear help you with this. It demands a variety, as in music, it demands a beat, a rhythm, a harmony.  Use short sentences, medium sentences, longer sentences, mix them up. Use short sentences to evoke  a sense of urgency. Longer sentences to give the reader a rest. Remember, you're not just writing words, you're writing music.

5. Vary Sentence Construction. In school, do you remember how to structure a sentence? Subject ? Verb? Object? However, ideal sentence construction can bore readers. Of course, you shouldn't go out on a limb and rearrange sentences willy-nilly with no nod to Strunk & White, That's not what I'm saying, however, keep the principle elements of the sentence dancing so they'll create they're own music.

6. Write Complete Sentences. In most cases, a complete sentence creates a complete thought. Incomplete sentences were not acceptable in grammar school. However in the writing world, they do have their place. Provost says, "Good writing often contains incomplete sentences." It's a useful tool -- when USED WISELY and SPARINGLY. As far as Provost is concerned, "...write complete sentences 99% of the time. But now and then if a partial sentence sounds right to you, that's what you should write. Period."

7. Show, Don't Tell. Usually shorter is better. However, it sometimes takes more words to show than it does to tell. That's okay. Description helps.

8. Keep Related Words Together. When you go to a grocery store, even if you've never been there before, you can find most everything you're looking for without the use of a map or customer service. Why? Because they group related items together. Do the same with words. Adjectives should be placed near the noun they describe. Adverbs should be close to the verbs they modify, and dependent clauses near the words on which they depend for meaning.

9. Use Parallel Construction. As the steady of a drum often enriches the melody, the repetition of a sound can improve the music in your writing. Placing words and sounds together by arranging sentences sentences together to show the reader similarities of information contained in sentences is called parallel construction.

10. Don't Force a Personal Style.  Similar to a new set of clothes, style is something you cannot force on a person, or your writing. As Provost says, "Style is your writing.... Do not try to write like Erma Bombeck, Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, or anybody else. If you fail you will look foolish, and if you succeed you will succeed only in announcing to the world that you are not very creative."

Be you instead. 

Copyright: rtimages / 123RF Stock Photo

10 Ways to Develop Style

We are all looking for ways to improve our writing. Today, I thought I would help you develop your style. So, what is style? When in the discussion of writing, style is "the way in which an idea is expressed, not the idea itself."

1. Think About Style -  Think about how you want to express your idea. Use all of your senses.

2. Listen to What you Write - Think of your writing as music. The words you write make sounds, and when those sounds are in harmony, the writing will work. Read your writing aloud. Listen for the beat. Listen for gaps where the music doesn't work. "There are no good sounds or bad sounds, just as there are no good notes or bad notes in music. It is the way in which you combine them that can make the writing succeed or fail. It's the music that matters." states Gary Provost.

3. Mimic Spoken Language - Writing should be conversational. Your writing should convey to the reader a sense of conversation. Mimic spoken language in the variety of its music, in the simplicity of its words, in the directness of its expression. Writing provides time for contemplation. Use it well.

4. Vary Sentence Length - Vary the sentence length and you create music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm. A lilt, a harmony. Write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader's ear. Don't just write words. Write music.

5. Vary Sentence Construction - Subject. Predicate. Object. That's how we were taught early in life to construct sentences. However, identical sentence structure can become boring to readers. Of course, you should strive for clarity and not arrange your sentences in a way that strangles their logic. Keep the primary elements of the sentence dancing so that they will create their own music.

6. Write Complete Sentences - Complete sentences have a subject and a predicate. You should always try to write complete sentences. Good writing often contains incomplete sentences. The incomplete sentence is a useful tool. Using it wisely can invigorate the music of your words. Like a chime or the beat of a drum.

7. Show, Don't Tell - When you are showing people something, you are trusting them to make up their minds for themselves. Readers like to be trusted. Don't dictate to them. Let them see the person, situation, or thing you are describing, and they will not only like what you have written, they will like you for trusting them.

8. Keep Related Words Together - Adjectives should be placed near the nouns they describe so they don't appear to be describing some other noun. In the same vein, adverbs should be close to verbs they modify, and dependent clauses should be near the words on which they depend for meaning.

9. Use Parallel Construction - Just as the steady beat of a drum can often enrich a melody, the repetition of a sound can often improve the music of your writing. When you deliberately arrange words and sounds in similar fashion to show the reader the similarity of information contained in sentences it is called parallel construction.

10. Don't Force a Personal Style - Style is your writing. It is tangled in the content of your words and the nature of you. Do not create some kind of persona in your head and try to capture it on paper. Do not try to write like Erma Bombeck, Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway or anybody else. Write well and without self-consciousness. Only then will your own style emerge.

If you follow these simple points, you'll be writing your own music and it will be delightful to the reader and to yourself.

Writing Reference - 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost