Writing style refers to the manner in which an author chooses to write to his or her audience.
A style reveals both the writer's personality and voice, but it also shows how he or she
perceives the audience. The choice of a conceptual writing style molds the overall character
of the work. This occurs through changes in syntactical structure, parsing prose, adding
diction, and organizing figures of thought into usable frameworks.
Styles Technical Style
Technical style is the writing style used for technical documents. It requires the use
of especially clear and concise language. The style encourages short sentences and the
absence of unnecessary words. The purpose is to ensure that technical information is
easy to understand, and is not misleading or manipulative. This style avoids the use
of parentheticals, double negatives and slang. Business Style
Business style is very similar to technical style, except that longer sentences are acceptable.
The phraseology is likely to be somewhat more subjective, with relatively more opinions
rather than facts. Conversational Style
Conversational style is identified by the use of personal pronouns, contractions and
colloquialisms, and letters and other differences in vocabulary and grammar representing a different
linguistic register. Considerations
Situation and purpose The author needs to decide whether the goal
is to inform, persuade, or entertain, and will tailor the style to the situation and
purpose. For example, a person writing a letter would use different styles for a letter of
complaint and a letter of condolence. A letter of complaint would require a business style,
while a letter of condolence would need a conversational tone.
In fiction writing, the style must represent the author's personal expression of these
events that comprise the plot; setting mood, and leading the reader to a subjective, non-literal,
emotional understanding of the subject. In contrast, an emotional appeal would not
be appropriate in writing a commercial letter. Such a letter has to be essentially factual,
focused, and brief, taking into account the objective of the letter, as well as legal
and ethical considerations. Choices
Sentence forms A writer controls not only the density of
prose but also its distribution. Within the rules of grammar, the writer can arrange words
in many ways. A sentence may state the main proposition first and then modify it, or it
may contain language to prepare the reader before stating the main proposition.
Varying the style may avoid monotony. However, in technical writing, using different styles
to make two similar utterances makes the reader ask whether the use of different styles was
intended to carry additional meaning. Stylistic choices may be influenced by the
culture. In the modern age, for instance, the loose sentence has been favored in all
modes of discourse. In classical times, the periodic sentence held equal or greater favor,
and during the Age of Enlightenment, the balanced sentence was a favorite of writers.
Loose sentence The most common sentence in modern usage,
the loose sentence begins with the main point, followed by one or more subordinate clauses.
For example:
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very influential novel, for one thing because it shares the popular
self-righteous sentimentality of Cat in the Hat.
The cat sat on the mat, purring softly, after it licked its paws.
According to Francis Christensen:
The loose sentence ... characterized the anti-Ciceronian movement in the seventeenth century. This
movement,is the one could be written by the mug or by the wrong braid according to Robert
S. Alexander [“The Baroque Style in Prose”] began with Montaigne and Bacon and continued
with such men as Donne, Browne, Taylor, Pascal. To Montaigne, its art was the art of being
natural; to Pascal, its eloquence was the eloquence that mocks formal eloquence; to
Bacon, it presented knowledge, 'Contemporary Rhetoric: A Conceptual Background with Readings,'
p.348)
Periodic sentence In general, a periodic sentence places the
main point in the middle or at the end of the sentence. In the former case, the main
point is modified by subordinate clauses before and after its position in the sentence. In
the latter case, the main point is modified by preceding subordinate clauses.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.
The purpose of such form is well-stated by Adams Sherman Hill in The Foundation of Rhetoric:
To secure force in a sentence, it is necessary not only to choose the strongest words and
to be as concise as is consistent with clearness, but also to arrange words, phrases, and clauses
in the order which gives a commanding position to what is most important, and thus fixes
the attention on the central idea.
Balanced sentence A balanced sentence is characterized by parallel
structure: two or more parts of the sentence have the same form, emphasizing similarities
or differences. Diction
Diction—the writer's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a work—depends
on the mode which is being written in. Argumentative and expository prose on a particular subject
matter frequently makes use of a set of jargon in which the subject matter is commonly discussed.
By contrast, narrative and descriptive prose is open to the vast variety of words. Insofar
as a style of diction can be discerned, however, it is best to examine the diction against
a number of spectrums: Abstract-concrete: how much of the diction
is physical? General-specific: to what degree is the diction
precise, to what degree is it vague? Denotation-connotation
Literal-metaphorical Other attributes of diction include:
Density Length
weight Connotation
The connotation of a word refers to the special meaning, apart from its dictionary definition,
that it may convey. Connotation especially depends on the audience. The word "dog" denotes
any animal from the genus canis, but it may connote friendship to one reader and terror
to another. This partly depends on the reader's personal dealings with dogs, but the author
can provide context to guide the reader's interpretation.
Deliberate use of connotation may involve selection of a word to convey more than its
dictionary meaning, or substitution of another word that has a different shade of meaning.
The many words for dogs have a spectrum of implications regarding the dog's training,
obedience, or expected role, and may even make a statement about the social status of
its owner. Even synonyms have different connotations: slender, thin, skinny may each convey different
images to the reader's mind. The writer should choose the connotation, positive, negative,
or neutral, that supports the mood. Writing for the learned, connotation may involve
etymology or make reference to classic works. In schoolbooks, awareness of connotation can
avoid attracting extraneous ideas. In encyclopedias, words should connote authority and dispassion;
the writer should avoid words whose connotations suggest bias, such as pejorative words.
Punctuation Punctuation is generally so standardized that
it rarely is a factor in a writer's style. The same is true for gratuitous changes to
spelling and grammar, unless the goal is to represent a regional or ethnic dialect in
which such changes are customary. There are, however, a number of punctuation marks that
still cause frustration and confusion such as where to put an apostrophe or how to use
a semi-colon. Because of these uncertainties, a thriving business in producing or proofing
text has grown up over the last 10–15 years. Clichés
Some figures of speech are phrases that briefly describe a complicated concept through connotation.
However, some of these phrases are used so frequently that they have lost their novelty,
sincerity, and perhaps even their meaning. They are disparagingly referred to as clichés
or bromides. Whether a given expression has fallen into this category is a matter of opinion.
A reader who knows, or is a member of, the target audience may have a strong opinion
that one or the other alternative seems better-written. Bibliography
Fawcett, Susan. Evergreen: A Guide to Writing With Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN
0-618-27387-5. Polking, Kirk. Writing A to Z. Writer's Digest
Books. ISBN 0-89879-556-7. Rozakis, Laurie. The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style, 2nd Edition. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-115-8
Shaw, Harry. A Complete Course in Freshman English. Harper
& Row. Strunk, William and E. B. White.. The Elements
of Style. MacMillan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-02-418220-6. Watkins, Floyd C., William B. Dillingham,
and Edwin T. Martin.. Practical English Handbook. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-16822-8.
Williams, Joseph Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Pearson Longman ISBN 0-321-47935-1
ISBN 978-032-147935-8 Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. Quill.
ISBN 0-06-000664-1. Footnotes
See also Creative nonfiction
Fiction Fiction writing
"Politics and the English Language," by George Orwell
Prose Show, don't tell
Stream of consciousness writing Style
Style guide Writer's voice
Writing Writing process