Writing style

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This article is about writing prose. For writing style guides, see style guide.

Writing style is the manner in which a writer addresses a matter in prose. A style reveals the writer's personality or 'voice.' It is the result of the choices the writer makes in syntactical structures, diction, and figures of thought. Similar questions of style exist in the choice of spoken language.

[edit] Constraints on style

[edit] Occupation

Writing in certain occupations imposes style constraints. Scholarly writing usually avoids figures of speech and prefers precise descriptions to colloquial terms. News reporting requires smaller words, even if colloquial, and shorter sentences, to be easy to read by everyone in a general audience. Fiction writing, in contrast, is designed to entertain and arouse the reader, and is improved by the judicious use of figures of speech. A judge's verdict needs precision to explain the judge's reasoning, but often uses literary devices to persuade the reader of its correctness.

A writer can combine personal style with the style expected in the occupation, but doing so to excess may distract from the purpose. A scientific paper with excessive personal style may make the reader question its seriousness; a news article with excessive personal style may make the reader doubt the author's neutrality. Fiction written in the customary style of a scientific paper would not keep the reader interested.

[edit] Audience

The writer needs to know who the reader is. This dictates the differences in occupational style noted above, but also constrains style within an occupation or setting. The author needs to answer the following questions regarding the audience:

How well does the reader read? Using excessively complex language when writing to children or to the general public will hinder communication, but using excessively simple language when writing to a trained audience will seem condescending.

What does the reader know? Spending words explaining things that the reader already knows will make the reader lose interest. However, communication is impossible if the writer assumes knowledge the reader does not have.

[edit] Situation and purpose

The author needs to tailor style to the situation. For example, the same person writing a letter to the same reader would use different style depending on whether it is a letter of complaint, a letter of condolence, or a business letter. The author needs to decide whether the goal of the writing is to inform, persuade, or sympathize.

[edit] Stylistic choices

[edit] Sentence forms

A writer controls not only the density of prose but 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.

[edit] The loose sentence

The most common sentence in modern usage, the loose sentence begins with the main point (an independent clause), followed by one or more subordinate clauses. For example:

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very influential novel, having its self-righteous, virtuous sentimentality, much in common with Little Women (James Baldwin).

The cat sat on the mat, purring softly, having licked his paws.

According to Francis Christensen:

The loose sentence ... characterized the anti-Ciceronian movement in the seventeenth century. This movement, according to Morris W. Croll [“The Baroque Style in Prose,” (1929)] 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 so that it could be examined, not so that it must be accepted. (in Winterowd, 'Contemporary Rhetoric: A Conceptual Background with Readings,' p.348)

[edit] The periodic sentence

In contrast, 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. (Henry David Thoreau)

The purpose of such form is well-stated by Adams Sherman Hill in The Foundation of Rhetoric (1897):

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.

[edit] The 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.

[edit] Diction

Depending on the mode in which the writer is writing, diction can also pertain to the writer's style. 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

[edit] Connotation

The connotation of a word refers to the special associations, 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 ("lap dog" versus "cur"). 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 (as when writing "Napoleon was a bigger influence than Frederick the Great on world history" provokes thoughts of Napoleon's physical stature). In encyclopedias, words should connote authority and dispassion; the writer should avoid words whose connotations suggest bias, such as pejorative words.

[edit] Figures of speech

Using figures of speech adds liveliness and clarity to a piece of writing when used effectively, by making abstract concepts concrete or giving concrete objects an abstract quality. It can help a writer say something in an interesting way when ordinary language may seem dry. At the same time, inconsistent or inappropriate use, such as the mixed metaphor, may be detrimental to the author's purpose.

The article on figures of speech contains a list of schemata and tropes that are options to the writer.

[edit] Punctuation

Punctuation is now so standardized that it rarely is a factor in a writer's style. Deliberate eccentricity in the use of punctuation, without a clear purpose, can distract the reader and impede communication. 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.

[edit] Attributes of effective style

Pedagogists have historically tried to define the "best" style; but the recent consensus is more democratic: that "Nothing in language is ever good or bad except in relation to a purpose" (Winterowd p.22). A good style is one that helps writing achieve the purpose the writer desires when the intended audience reads it. However, certain attributes are always more effective than others.

[edit] Effective syntax

[edit] Clear main clauses

The point of a sentence should be clearly identifiable and not hidden among numerous modifying phrases and clauses.

For example, nominalization, which makes a proposition the subject or object of another proposition, is hazardous because it unneccesarily makes a sentence longer and more complex. Here is an example of nominalization:

1) A grammar is made up of a finite series of rules that can generate an infinite number of sentences, a fact that explains why we can understand sentences that we have never seen before.
2) A grammar's being made up of a finite series of rules that can generate an infinite number of sentences is the explanation for our understanding of sentences that we have never seen before.

As Winterowd explains: "A high degree of nominalization creates difficulty for reading — for every reader ... In (1) the reader immediately grasps is made up as the point around which the rest of the sentence will be organized, but in (2), the reader must hold a series of 21 words in suspension before he arrives at the organizational point explanation" (Winterowd 18).

[edit] Indicating relationships between propositions

Joining sentences, with conjunctions and other words that show the sentences' relation to one another, not only helps the reader to comprehend the content, but induces a more fluid style (though fluidity is not the most effective style for all purposes). Examples:

1) Alaska is a thinly populated state. Overpopulation is becoming a problem. Many people may move there. It has vast open lands.
2) Alaska, a thinly populated state, has vast open lands to which many people may move since overpopulation is becoming a problem.
3) As overpopulation becomes a problem, Alaska, a state thinly populated yet with vast open lands, is a place to which many may move.
4) Overpopulation is becoming a problem. Yet Alaska is a thinly populated state, and has vast open lands. Mightn't people move there?

Example (1) contains separate sentences, whose relation to one another the reader must work to determine. The other examples use the words since, as, and yet to clarify the relationship to the reader. They assert a cause and effect, and even show that the statements state a problem and offer a solution.

[edit] Using schemes

The article on figures of speech lists many schemes—patterns for setting or rearranging word order—that help the writer improve the rhythm of writing and achieve specific effects.

[edit] Concise modifiers

A continual dilemma for writers is to add modifiers to sentences without distracting from their essential points. Eliminate inessential material from sentences. However, John Erskine advises: "What you say is found not in the noun but in what you add to qualify the noun ... The noun, the verb, and the main clause serve merely as the base on which meaning will rise ... The modifier is the essential part of any sentence" (Winterowd 340).

One way to write concise but rich sentences is to choose words that are more specific: Change "the boy who went to school" to "the schoolboy"; change "they went by boat across the water" to "they sailed." Another method is to use figures of speech as short-cuts to explicit explanations. For example, rather than "Genetically modified food may be the key to eliminating hunger among those who cannot afford natural foods as those foods become ever more scarce," seek a metaphor, like "Genetically modified food may be our modern-day manna."

[edit] Variety of modifiers

Vary the sentence structure, unless the intended effect is monotony. A simple way to achieve variety is to vary the way the sentence starts. Here are some options:

The subject: 'The cat sat on the mat.'
Expletive: 'There is a cat sitting on the mat'; 'Alas, a cat sat on the mat.'
Coordinating conjunction: 'Yet the cat sat on the mat.'
Conjunctive phrase: 'On the other hand, the mouse ran up the clock.'
Adverb word: 'Lazily, the cat sat on the mat.'
Adverb clause: 'Although he was not tired, the cat sat on the mat.'
Adjective phrase: 'Cute and fuzzy, the cat sat on the mat.'
Prepositional phrase: 'Beneath the chair, on the mat, the cat sat.'
Verbal phrase: 'Purring softly, the cat sat on the mat.'
Absolute phrase: 'The epitome of contentment, the cat sat on the mat.'
Front-shift: 'On the mat sat the cat.'

[edit] Repetition of like things

Variation is undesirable when successive sentences state coordinated ideas. In sentences that form a list, extra words that introduce each list item (for example, "First of all," "On the other hand," and "Point C") are a distraction. (However, when each list item encompasses several sentences, such phrases may help the reader understand the transition from one item to the next.)

As Francis Christensen explains in his essay, A Generative Rhetoric of the Paragraph:

It should be evident, also, that we need two separate sets of yardsticks for measuring such things as unity, coherence, and emphasis. Take coherence, for example. The repetition of structure ... is all that is necessary to join sentence to sentence at the same level. Any connectives other than the simple and for the last member would be an impertinence—again, moreover, in the same vein, in addition would be a hindrance rather than a help. But repetition of structure is necessary; like things in like ways is one of the imperatives of discursive writing. Any attempt to introduce variety in the sentence beginnings, by varying the pattern or by putting something before the subject, would be like trying to vary the columns of the Parthenon. In a subordinate sequence, just as clearly, repetition of structure must be avoided. Each added sentence, being different in the method of development, must be different, must be different in form. In a subordinate sequence, the problems of unity, coherence, and emphasis are altogether different—and more difficult.

[edit] Active voice

Use of the passive voice makes a sentence more complex and introduces vagueness as to who the actor is. This is justifiable only when the writer (1) does not know or does not want to mention the actor (so "The public has been deceived" is better than "Someone has deceived the public" and may be more judicious than "Fred has deceived the public"), or (2) the writer wants to emphasize the receiver of the action (in this example, "the public") by putting it first in the sentence.

[edit] Effective diction

Apart from the constraints mentioned above, the choice among words depends on the effect the writer wishes to achieve. Pre-twentieth century stylists have suggested that the best choice satisfies three principles:

Purity: being contemporary, reputable, and non-foreign
Propriety: being relevant to the subject, occasion, purpose, and audience
Precision: being correct in denotation and idiom, and means what we intend it to mean and no more

Writers should remember that any thought that is hard to express will be equally hard for the reader to understand.

[edit] Simplicity

Generally, writers should use simpler and common words instead of lesser-known words. "Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able." (Elements of Style) However, a writer may select a more complex word if it has an exacting definition and the alternative would be an expression using multiple words.

[edit] Effective figurative language

[edit] 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. There is always an alternative to using such an expression, though it may require more words. 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.

A writer should not rely on an expression that might be a cliché when stating the thesis. Instead, the writer can more effectively persuade the reader by stating the case literally. Later, the writer may restate the case using such an expression, to reinforce the argument.

[edit] Concrete language

Prose communicates more effectively when it avoids abstractions. This can be done by figures of speech and by giving examples. Abstract language is appropriate for subjects that are by their nature abstract.

[edit] Practice

A writer develops skills through practice, and a style emerges over time. William Zinsser says writing style is not a commodity. "You will reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives, as if style were something you could buy at the style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors ... there is no style store; style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance ... he doesn't look quite right."

[edit] Imitation

The Elements of Style endorses imitation as a way for a writer to achieve his own style:

The use of language begins with imitation . . . The imitative life continues long after the writer is on their own in the language, for it is almost impossible to avoid imitating what one admires. Never imitate consciously, but do not worry about being an imitator; take pains instead to admire what is good. Then when you write in a way that comes naturally, you will echo the halloos that bear repeating.

[edit] Bibliography

Fawcett, Susan (2004). Evergreen: A Guide to Writing With Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-27387-5.
Polking, Kirk (1990). Writing A to Z. Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-556-7.
Rozakis, Laurie (2003). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style, 2nd Edition. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-115-8
Shaw, Harry (1965). A Complete Course in Freshman English. Harper & Row.
Strunk, William and E. B. White. (1959). The Elements of Style. MacMillan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-02-418220-6.
Watkins, Floyd C., William B. Dillingham, and Edwin T. Martin. (1974). Practical English Handbook. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-16822-8.
Williams, Joseph (2007) Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Pearson Longman ISBN 032-147935-1 ISBN 978-032-147935-8
Zinsser, William (2001). On Writing Well. Quill. ISBN 0-06-000664-1.

[edit] See also