Writing Style: What the Heck is It?

A writer's style is the "voice" of the writer, as "heard" through their writing. Style is displayed in the way a writer composes their sentences. It's displayed by love their for dialogue, or their overuse of wordy descriptions. It shows up when they use one too many short sentences, or when their paragraphs are overflowing with commas.

A writer's style is as unique as they themselves. Some writers have such a distinct style that they could publish a book without their name on it and still be recognized as the author. The way in which they write leaves "fingerprints" all over their books. Someone who is familiar with the author's style will detect it in an instant.

Style is what makes us hate one book and love another, in the same genre. Two people can have the same story idea but execute it differently, potentially ending up with two completely dissimilar audiences of readers. Take these two sentences, for example:

1.) "His arched eyebrows grazed the brim of his brown plaid cap as he attentively eyeballed the mysterious -- and possibly dangerous -- individual."

2.) "The man gripped the edge of his seat, staring, brows lifted warily under his dark cotton cap."

These two sentences are describing the same person in the same situation, yet the descriptions are quite different. This is a simple example of two different styles. The way a writer takes in a situation, and then translates it onto paper, is what makes his or her style unique.

This is just a basic introduction to writing style. In future posts, I'll cover various topics about style, including common style problems and how to fix them.

Our favorite author's style of writing is what keeps us coming back to their books. Can you figure out what it is about their style that you love? Leave a comment!