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Style

One last aspect of writing we should address concerns style.  Style is the author's distinctive way of speaking or writing, or how something is done.

In writing, style consists of three elements:

  1. Sentence structure
  2. Detail and description
  3. Formality


Sentence Structure – Every writer has a way of conveying their meaning using either long and complex sentences, or short, easy-to-understand sentences. Some writers use a mix. Do all sentences begin with a noun followed by a verb, or does the author mix things up to keep your interest, starting sentences with phrases, using questions, or challenging the reader?

Read the two passages below:

You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, is it not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?

The Old Man and the Sea


We played croquet and lawn-tennis, walked in the garden, had tea, and then a large supper. After the huge pillared hall, I felt out of tune in the small cosy house, where there were no oleographs on the walls and the servants were treated considerately, and everything seemed to me young and pure, through the presence of Lyda and Missyuss, and everything was decent and orderly. At supper Lyda again talked to Bielokurov about the Zemstvo, about Balaguin, about school libraries. She was a lively, sincere, serious girl, and it was interesting to listen to her, though she spoke at length, and in a loud voice -- perhaps because she was used to holding forth at school. On the other hand, Piotr Petrovich, who from his university days had retained the habit of reducing any conversation to a discussion, spoke tediously, slowly, and deliberately, with an obvious desire to be taken for a clever and progressive man. He gesticulated and upset the sauce with his sleeve and it made a large pool on the table-cloth, though nobody but myself seemed to notice it.

The House With the Mezzanine


The first passage is written by an author who is known for his spare, pared down writing style. Hemingway is very famous for editing, re-editing, and ruthlessly re-editing his material until only the necessary words are there. His short story, The Old Man and the Sea  is one of his most famous. It is a very short novella, but every single work packs a punch. Not one single word is extraneous.

Anton Checkhov, on the other, hand uses a much more complicated and complex writing style, relying on long, compound sentences with a lot of clauses, and several ideas contained in a single sentence.

Both writers have written exceptional stories, yet their  writing style  is vastly different from each other. Which one do you find easier to read?

To challenge yourself, read portions of some of the great writers mentioned in this lesson. Even if you are not yet fully comfortable with each piece, keep working at it, using everything you have learned that aids in your comprehension of what you've read. Working 20 minutes every day on something challenging will help you to feel much more comfortable within two weeks.

Imagine how wonderful it will feel to read anything and really know how to improve your understanding of it!



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