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Objective
SMARTHINKING's
Style chapter will give you some skills that will develop your personal
writing style and help you become a better writer. This lesson will
give you a working definition of style and discuss both the levels
and qualities of style.
What is Style?
In Style:
Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace,
Joseph Williams defines "style" primarily as arranging words to have
the greatest possible effect. Many writers believe that style is simply
being clear. Others believe that style is uncontrollable-either you
have it or you don't. In his introduction to The Modern Stylists,
Donald Hall says:
By trying to
scrutinize our own style, perhaps with the help of people like Orwell
and Pound, Hemmingway and Thurber, we try to understand ourselves.
Editing our own writing, or going over in memory our own spoken
words, or even inwardly examining our thought, we can ask why we
resorted to the passive in this case or to clichés in that.
The major premises
behind this chapter are that each of us has a personal writing style
and that our writing styles are something that we can consciously
choose for different writing situations. In other words, you can learn
to write with a stronger style.
We'll define
the word style as "the words you choose and how you arrange
them for the greatest effectiveness when writing to different audiences
and for different purposes." This lesson will explore both levels
of style and the quality, or clarity, of style.
Levels
In different
situations and for different audiences, the ideas you communicate
may stay the same, but you'll use different styles to communicate
them. For example, you might greet a friend on a street with "Hey,
how's it going?" You would not use the same words for your boss, though.
Instead, you would probably say something like: "Hello, how are you"?
One greeting is informal (also called plain style),
while the second is formal (also called eloquent). The
difference between the two is the level of style used toward different
audiences and purposes. The first greeting reveals a friendly connection
with a friend, who is an equal, while the second greeting reveals
a polite connection with an employer who is a superior in a working
relationship.
Other examples
of style levels may be helpful.
People to whom
you would write informally may include:
- Your friends,
- Certain family
members,
- Work colleagues,
- Fellow students,
and
- Other peers.
Situations in
which you would write informally include:
- Personal letters
to those people,
- Some email
correspondence,
- Personal journals
or diaries, and
- Narrative
stories.
People to whom
you would write formally may include:
- Your parents,
- Teachers,
- Employers,
and
- Other people
who do not share the same social or personal status at a given time.
Situations in
which you would write formally include:
- Official reports,
- Letters to
a newspaper or media editor, and
- Most college
writing assignments.
Quality
Quality of style
most often means clarity. Being clear often means writing sentences
that are correct and concise or economical. It also means choosing
the most precise words for the meaning that you want to convey and
editing your work to delete inappropriate words or phrases, substituting
more appropriate ones as necessary. Knowing your own style is important
for your growth as a writer. If you believe that you can understand
and control your writing style by making conscious choices, you will
be a more powerful writer.
One reason to
be concerned about the quality of your writing style is that employers
are unhappy with college graduates who can't write clearly. People
in a lot of professions (architecture, engineering, medicine, law,
teaching, and support services) have to write, and when they write
poorly or unclearly, they reflect badly on the businesses for which
they work. To help you improve the quality of your style, this chapter
will address such issues as being concise, writing stylistically strong
sentences, and using the active and passive voices appropriately.
Your Writing
Style
How do you know
that you have a personal writing style? Interestingly, you have been
developing your writing style since you first learned to write. In
high school, where you may have worked with individual teachers for
a year or more, your writing has become something that a teacher can
recognize even when you've forgotten to put your name on the paper.
That's because your style, or the choices you make about arranging
your words, is particular to you--like your handwriting and, sometimes,
the way you dress or wear your hair.
In the past,
you may have paid more attention to your clothing or hairstyles than
to your writing style. In fact, you may have believed that your writing
style is not under your control. Teachers often hear students say,
"Well, that's just the way I write. I can't help it." But the wonderful
news is that you can control your style and make word, sentence, and
paragraph level choices that will make your writing more clear, concise,
powerful, and interesting.
Some people believe
that "style is the man." This is a saying that means you are what
and how you write. In other words, equating style with the person
is like equating who you are with what you know and think. If you
reread your most recent piece of writing, this definition of style
can be scary. If someone were to link you to that piece of writing
and make a judgment of who you are based on it, would you be fairly
judged? This chapter of the SMARTHINKING Writer's Handbook should
help you to make more conscious decisions about your style, in turn
helping you to write pieces of which you can truly be proud.
Summary
Writing style
includes both levels and quality of writing. A strong style that you
develop and practice consciously will help you to shape your writing
for different audiences and purposes and will make you a better and
more interesting writer.
  
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