CHAPTER 12

Developing Your Own Writing Style

You should read this chapter if you need to review or learn about

What is Style in Writing?

Consider the following three passages. As you read them, think about what qualities make them the same and different from each other.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man must be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

Simple everyday upkeep will help maintain the beauty of your new carpet. One important aspect of this care is cleaning up food and beverage spills quickly and correctly. Follow these steps:

1. Blot up as much of the spill as possible. Use a clean, white cloth or white paper towels. Try to work quickly so the liquid does not have time to penetrate the carpet.
2. If the carpet is stained, blot down with a cloth moistened with warm water. Do not use hot water; it will set the stain. Press down firmly to remove as much liquid as you can. Do not rub the stain, because rubbing can change the texture of the carpet. Continue blotting with clean cloths or paper towels until the stain is gone.
3. If the stain does not disappear, mix 1 quart warm water with 1 teaspoon mild liquid laundry detergent. Do not use dishwashing detergent or any detergent that contains bleach. Cover the stain with the cleaner. Let it sit five minutes. Then blot up the liquid with clean white cloths or paper towels.
4. Rinse the stained area with warm water and blot until the carpet is almost dry. Cover the stain with a few layers of paper towels or cloths.
5. When the carpet is completely dry, vacuum the carpet. To restore the texture, you may then wish to brush the carpet gently.
6. Deep stains may need a professional stain remover. This can be obtained from your local hardware or carpet store. Follow the directions on the container. If you need additional assistance, call 800-555-CLEAN. (From a carpet care manual)

Passages 1 and 2 are similar because they are both parts of novels. As a result, they both tell a story. The authors aim to entertain their readers. Passage 3, in contrast, does not tell a story. Rather, it gives directions. As a result, its purpose is to instruct.

Now look a little deeper: Passage 1 has long sentences. Looking more closely, you can see that the entire passage is one single very long sentence! Dickens also uses parallel structure as he matches phrases and clauses. The words are elevated, too, as shown in his choice of the word epoch, for example. There’s no dialogue, however.

Passage 2 also has long sentences, but they are nowhere near as long as the sentence Dickens uses. The diction is British, as shown in the word let used for rented. This passage is developed through dialogue.

Both passages are witty. There’s no humor at all in Passage 3, however!

The Elements of Style

As this analysis reveals, different writers have their own distinctive way of writing. A writer’s style is his or her distinctive way of writing. Style is a series of choices, shown on the following chart.

Style can be described in many ways, including

Some professional writers celebrated for their distinctive writing style include Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, John McPhee, Tracy Kidder, and E. B. White. (Some criticized for their writing style include James Joyce, Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Charles Dickens!)

A clear writing style is not restricted to professional writers, however. Everyday people get ahead in part because of their ability to write clearly and effectively. For example,

• Accountants must write clear cover letters for audits.
• Computer specialists write proposals.
• Educators write observations of staff members and reports on students.
• Engineers write reports, e-mails, and faxes.
• Insurance brokers write letters soliciting business.
• Lawyers need to make their briefs logical.
• Marketing personnel do sales reports.
• Retail workers often write letters of recommendation and promotion.
• Stock and bond traders write letters and prospectuses.

Everyone writes resumes, cover letters, memos, faxes, and business letters. Therefore, we all need to develop an effective writing style that helps us get our point across clearly, concisely, and gracefully.

While everyone’s writing style is as individual as his or her fingerprints, every writing style shares the same characteristics:

• It suits the tone to the readers. For example, you would use a respectful tone in a eulogy (funeral speech), but you could use a humorous tone in a speech at a birthday party.
• It is free of errors in grammar and usage (unless fragments are being used in dialogue).
• It is free of errors in spelling and punctuation (unless misspellings are being used in dialect).
• It does not include offensive words.

Writers often change their style for different kinds of writing and to suit different audiences. In poetry, for example, an author might use more imagery than he or she would use in prose. Dr. Seuss wrote whimsical novels such as The Cat in the Hat for children, as well as effective advertisements for Burma Shave! E. B. White wrote the children’s classics Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan, as well as essays for adults collected under the title Is Sex Dead? The style of each publication is clearly different, yet each can be equally well written. As these examples show, writing style is first adjusted to satisfy your audience.

Audience and Style

A writer’s audience are the people who read what you have written. To be an effective writer and speaker, you must understand how your audience is likely to react to what you say and how you say it. Knowing who you are communicating with is fundamental to the success of any message. You need to tailor your writing style to suit the audience’s needs, interests, and goals.

Before you write anything that you wish to share with others, analyze your audience. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Who will be reading what I have written? Possible audiences include teachers, classmates, colleagues, clients, friends, strangers.
2. How much do my readers know about my topic at this point? Are they novices, experts, or somewhere in between?
3. What information must I provide for my message to be successful? Sometimes you will have to provide a great deal of information to help your readers grasp your message. Other times, in contrast, you’ll have little, or no, information to add.
4. How does my audience feel about this topic? Are they neutral, hostile, enthusiastic, or somewhere in between? A hostile audience is much more difficult to reach than a friendly one.
5. What obstacles (if any) must I overcome for my message to be successful? You might have to deliver bad news, for instance.
6. What style of writing does my audience anticipate and prefer? Of course, you will suit your style to your audience’s needs and expectations. For instance, you wouldn’t use long, difficult words for young children. Similarly, you wouldn’t use many idioms (nonliteral phrases) for nonnative speakers of English.

A note on audience: In most instances, you will have a clearly defined audience, so you can adjust your style to appeal to them and help you achieve your purpose. Other times, however, your audience won’t be as easy to identify. For instance, you might be sending a resume and cover letter to a job identified by only the most general description and a post office box. In this situation, it’s even more critical to get some information about your readers. You might first send a query letter asking for more details, for instance.

Purpose and Style

A love letter. A business memo. A short story. A poem. An inventory. A letter to the IRS explaining a problem with a tax return.

We appear to write for many reasons, but remarkably, there are only four purposes for writing:

• To explain
• To persuade
• To describe
• To tell a story

The following chart explains purpose in writing.

A document often has more than one purpose, but one purpose usually dominates. For example, a letter of complaint will describe, explain, and persuade. However, its primary purpose is to persuade, as you try to convince your audience to make redress.

Developing Your Style

As you learned earlier in this chapter, style is made up of many elements. These include sentences, especially their length and structure. Style is also created by description, repetition, voice, parallel structure, and punctuation. Now,

1. Style and sentences

   Let’s look at these stylistic elements in greater detail.

   • Suit your sentence length to your topic. When your topic is complicated or full of numbers, use short, simple sentences to aid understanding. When your topic is less complex, use longer sentences with subordination to show how ideas are linked together and to avoid repetition.
   • Clear writing uses sentences of different lengths and types to create variety and interest. Craft your sentences to express your ideas in the best possible way. Mix simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences for a more effective style. Review Chapters 8 and 9 for a complete discussion of the four sentence types.
   • Overall, vary the length of your sentences. The unbroken rhythm of monotonous sentence length creates a dull style.
   • Select the subject of each sentence based on what you want to emphasize. Since readers focus on the subject of your sentence, make it the most important aspect of each thought.
2. Style and description
   • Add adjectives and adverbs to a sentence (when suitable) for emphasis and variety. Expand sentences with adjectives and adverbs. When you want to avoid a very brief sentence, add modifiers. Base your decision to expand a sentence on its focus and how it works in the context of surrounding sentences.
   • Use verbs rather than nouns to communicate your ideas. This makes your writing more forceful and less wordy. For example, replace forms of to be with action verbs, as the following example shows:
     Weak: The advantages of shopping ahead is saving time and money.
     Improved: Shopping ahead will save you time and money.
     

3. Style and repetition

   Repeat key words or ideas to achieve emphasis. Only repeat the words that contain a main idea or that use rhythm to focus attention on a main idea. Repetition is a key element in many of our most famous speeches, such as John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address.

   Kennedy used repetition to capture the cadences of natural speech to create one of the most memorable lines of the twentieth century: “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

4. Style and voice
   • Use the active voice, not the passive voice, as you learned in earlier chapters.
   • In informal writing, use the pronoun you to engage your readers. The second-person pronoun you (rather than the third-person he, she, one) gives your writing more impact because it directly addresses the reader, as this example shows:
     Weak: Deductions from one’s account will be posted on the first of the month.
     Improved: Deductions from your account will be posted on the first of the month.
     

5. Style and punctuation

   Your choice of punctuation also has a critical influence on your writing style because it determines the degree of linkage between sentences. Further, it suggests whether sentence elements are coordinating or subordinating. Here are some guidelines:

   • Use a period to show a full separation between ideas. However, be aware that a series of short, declarative sentences often creates a tense and choppy style.
   • Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction to show the following relationships: addition, choice, consequence, contrast, or cause.
   • Use a semicolon to show that the second sentence completes the content of the first sentence. The semicolon suggests a link but leaves it to the reader to make the connection.
   • Use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb (a word such as nevertheless, however, etc.) to show the relationship between ideas: addition, consequence, contrast, cause and effect, time, emphasis, or addition.