Style is a widely used but not very well defined term. We talk about hairstyles, clothing styles, and lifestyles, but each treats style in a different way. Writing is no different: everyone agrees that every author has a unique style, but find it hard to define exactly what that means. "It's how they sound," is a common statement, but inaccurate: books don't make a sound (unless you drop it on your foot). "It's the author's voice," is also common, but many authors can vary styles depending on the genre or point of view of their writing.
STYLE IS HOW A WRITER WRITES
Okay, that may not be the most helpful sentence in the world, but it's a start. Now let's go further. A writer's style can be broken up into four elements: TONE, IMAGERY, DICTION, and SYNTAX (TIDS for short). Each TIDS element is a way to analyze and build to an overall picture of the author's style. Let's dive in and look at each element:
TONE: speaker's attitude
Tone is a speaker's attitude toward the subject. Some describe this as "how the writing sounds" if it were spoken aloud, as tone of voice is relate to the different inflections made by the speaker.
More than just words, tone conveys emotion and feeling. For example, listen to this song. Sad and sober, right? Well, that song is a cover of this high energy pop hit. Every word is the same, but the singer's tone (his attitude) makes the song totally different. Tone reveals feelings, and a shift in tone can making even the most insipid and awful writing engaging.
But how does tone work on the page where the audience can't just listen? That's the beauty of tone: everything in the writing contributes. Certain words connect with sad tones (sigh, gloom, gray) while others connect to happier tones (bright, warm, eager). Sort sentence can convey an impatient or authoritative tone while long winding sentence can convey a relaxed and understanding tone. Each character can have their own tone based on how they feel about a given situation, and the narrator can have their own tone.
Tones also change throughout a text as tone shows character progression: if a character in a narrative story starts with an angry tone and shifts to an understanding tone, the reader can tell that the character has gone through a change. Characters in drama are constantly changing tones to their situations, and poetry even has a shift in tone built into its structure called the volta.
The most common tone, however, is the objective tone used in edifiers. Since edifying texts like articles, essays, instructions, and the like are "just the facts," most writer use the objective tone to show a lack of bias and neutrality. Yet even neutral tones can have some variance. Consider the difference between an understanding tone and a matter-of-fact tone: the understanding tone would use softer words with longer sentences, while a matter-of-fact tone would be to the point and blunt.
To find tone in a passage, first look at if the speaker likes the subject (positive), doesn't like the subject (negative), or doesn't have a strong opinion (neutral). Once you narrow it down to positive-negative-neutral, determine a more specific tone:
More than just words, tone conveys emotion and feeling. For example, listen to this song. Sad and sober, right? Well, that song is a cover of this high energy pop hit. Every word is the same, but the singer's tone (his attitude) makes the song totally different. Tone reveals feelings, and a shift in tone can making even the most insipid and awful writing engaging.
But how does tone work on the page where the audience can't just listen? That's the beauty of tone: everything in the writing contributes. Certain words connect with sad tones (sigh, gloom, gray) while others connect to happier tones (bright, warm, eager). Sort sentence can convey an impatient or authoritative tone while long winding sentence can convey a relaxed and understanding tone. Each character can have their own tone based on how they feel about a given situation, and the narrator can have their own tone.
Tones also change throughout a text as tone shows character progression: if a character in a narrative story starts with an angry tone and shifts to an understanding tone, the reader can tell that the character has gone through a change. Characters in drama are constantly changing tones to their situations, and poetry even has a shift in tone built into its structure called the volta.
The most common tone, however, is the objective tone used in edifiers. Since edifying texts like articles, essays, instructions, and the like are "just the facts," most writer use the objective tone to show a lack of bias and neutrality. Yet even neutral tones can have some variance. Consider the difference between an understanding tone and a matter-of-fact tone: the understanding tone would use softer words with longer sentences, while a matter-of-fact tone would be to the point and blunt.
To find tone in a passage, first look at if the speaker likes the subject (positive), doesn't like the subject (negative), or doesn't have a strong opinion (neutral). Once you narrow it down to positive-negative-neutral, determine a more specific tone:
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SOME POSITIVE TONES:
amused: entertained by subject boastful: self-promoting and proud complimentary: praising or approving confident: without hesitation or fear cheerful: happy and full of joy excited: eager and ready festive: celebratory and social irreverent: carefree and not serious lighthearted: positive and without worry lyrical: very emotional and poetic nostalgic: sad but grateful for times past optimistic: looking forward to something playful: lively and slightly competitive reverent: treats subject with respect sentimental: tender and affectionate sincere: genuine in feeling sympathetic: kind and understanding whimsical: odd, strange, fantastic |
SOME NEGATIVE TONES:
apprehensive: nervous and reluctant arrogant: conceited and aggressive bitter: anger from pain or grief callous: not caring about others critical/judgmental: finding fault exhausted: suffering from lack of rest flippant: shallow and thoughtless gloomy: sad and depressed indignant: angry from injustice insolent: rude and egotistical livid: unreasonably angry malevolent: delighting in suffering malicious: purposely hurtful mocking: making fun of a subject pessimistic: seeing the worst solemn: deeply serious and grave threatening: giving a hostile warning vexed: annoyed but powerless |
SOME NEUTRAL TONES:
authoritative: reliable and imposing curious: questioning to gain clarity clinical: diagnostic tone of a doctor candid: honest and frank cultured: refined tone of a butler coolheaded: peaceful and firm detached: unconnected and distant didactic: instructive tone of a teacher formal/objective: unbiased and fair matter of fact: sensible and to the point official: practiced and serious placid: calm and still plain: simple and ordinary reflective: shows inner thoughts restrained: controlled and careful scholarly: intellectual tone of a student urgent: hurried and insistent understanding: considerate and soft |
IMAGERY: vivid description
Imagery is the creation of vivid descriptions the reader can easily imagine. The goal of imagery is to engage the senses of the reader so they can relate to what the text says and picture the words of the author clearly and as intended. Good imagery doesn't tell the story -- it shows it, and by activating the imagination of readers, imagery makes readers more engaged. This is why imagery is important for even edifying texts with objective tones: the recipe that describes the flaky crust that feels as firm as the skin of an earlobe when done, the encyclopedia entry describing a giraffe as long-necked mammal the height of a two-story building and covered in golden fur no longer than grain of rice, the speech arguing for a law against the pollution from the local factory that is so caustic that it snaps the blood vessels in the eyes as quickly as a toddler with a sheet of bubble wrap until they look more like skinned tomatoes with corneas than parts of the human anatomy -- all of these use imagery to convey information.
Developing imagery can be fun, but it can also be difficult. The best way to begin to add imagery to writing is to dress up your nouns with descriptive adjectives (while you can do the same with verbs and adverbs, this can actually result in more cluttered writing than more invented writing). When thinking of what to say about the noun, engage the human senses -- don't just appeal to the reader's sense of touch, taste, smell, and hearing but also their sense of temperature, motion, pain, space, weight, and pressure. All writers should, at the very least, appeal to sense of sight by describing colors, textures, patterns, shapes, and sizes.
Here is an example of taking an idea and giving it depth with twenty different types of imagery:
Developing imagery can be fun, but it can also be difficult. The best way to begin to add imagery to writing is to dress up your nouns with descriptive adjectives (while you can do the same with verbs and adverbs, this can actually result in more cluttered writing than more invented writing). When thinking of what to say about the noun, engage the human senses -- don't just appeal to the reader's sense of touch, taste, smell, and hearing but also their sense of temperature, motion, pain, space, weight, and pressure. All writers should, at the very least, appeal to sense of sight by describing colors, textures, patterns, shapes, and sizes.
Here is an example of taking an idea and giving it depth with twenty different types of imagery:
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cat
type: tabby color: tangerine cat age: the arthritic old cat size: the obese cat, plump as a Thanksgiving turkey shape: the narrow, wide hipped cat sound: the hissing cat, glowering with contempt taste: the savory cat, tenderized with succulent pineapple and saffron smell: the cat, reeking of tuna and open scabs texture: cat with the tangled wire bristle fur weight: the svelte cat laying across her shoulder like a thick scarf pressure: the curious cat squeezing though the gap in the vent space: the brave cat on top of the bookcase with its head brushing the ceiling temperature: the fuzzy cat radiating warmth like a small oven pain: the limping cat that winced as it shift its weight to the tender paw speed: the adrenaline-fueled blur that was only recognizable as a cat when it slept cleanliness: the fastidiously groomed cat with not a single hair out place opinion: the ideal cat for modern woman mystery: the wide-eyed cat that didn't cast a shadow disposition: the timid cat, trembling in the corner, trying to make itself disappear history: the cat with only half an ear -- maimed, perhaps, in an alleyway fight |
DICTION: word choice
Diction is an author's word choice. There are three types of words when it comes to diction: common, advanced, and jargon. Common words are those that are used every day by everyone and that an average elementary schooler knows (e.g., cloud, puppy, building). This is not to say common words are bad--we couldn't have language without them--but they are like rice: it's a good base, but if we want to make a real meal, we have to spice it up. To spice up your writing, you should have a broad lexicon of different words.
Notice I just said lexicon and not vocabulary: your vocabulary is the set of words you know how to say and use in conversation, while your lexicon consists of words you can spell, read, and use in writing. There isn't much of a difference between the two words, but there is a difference. This difference between two closely related but not identical terms -- like vocabulary and lexicon -- is called nuance. This is advanced diction: picking a word that fits your specific nuanced use.
For example, let's say we are writing a story about a butcher and we write the sentence The butcher cut the meat with her knife. Now let's replace the common word cut with more nuanced words, and see how the mental picture of the sentence changes:
All of these replacements with cut are more nuanced, more specific, and more interesting than the simple idea of cut. This is why it is important to know what the words you use actually mean and not just replace every common word with something picked out of a thesaurus entry. Most of the English language consists of word that are closely related but cannot be swapped in for each other, like jealousy and envy or poisonous and venomous. We call the ones that are most confused with each other yellow words, and like a yellow light or road sign, you should use caution when using them.
Another quick note: I didn't use The butcher butchered the meat with her knife as an example. One of the rule of good diction is to avoid overuse of advanced diction, typically by not repeating the same word in a paragraph unless: 1) the word is a common word, 2) you are intentionally creating a parallel structure, or 3) there is no good equivalent word or phrase (like the word blood). You also want to use advanced diction to specify your language, not complicate your language: in the sentence She broke the old stuff with a heavy mallet, it would help the sentence to replace the vague old stuff with more advanced words (She broke the antique tchotchkes with a heavy mallet) but would make the sentence more confusing if heavy was replaced (She broke the old stuff with the ponderous mallet). Avoid circumlocution (the use of too many advanced words to overcomplicate a sentence) and make sure your sentence don't lack clarity.
Speaking of a lack of clarity, in adding to using an advanced and developed lexicon, it's important to remember to stay away from jargon, which is highly technical language only a professional in the field would use. For example, astronomers talk about sidereal years, retrograde motion, albedo, perigalacton, and syzygy, but the average person, even an educated one, would have no idea what these terms mean. Avoid jargon, and if you absolutely have to use it, make sure to explain the definition of the word.
Notice I just said lexicon and not vocabulary: your vocabulary is the set of words you know how to say and use in conversation, while your lexicon consists of words you can spell, read, and use in writing. There isn't much of a difference between the two words, but there is a difference. This difference between two closely related but not identical terms -- like vocabulary and lexicon -- is called nuance. This is advanced diction: picking a word that fits your specific nuanced use.
For example, let's say we are writing a story about a butcher and we write the sentence The butcher cut the meat with her knife. Now let's replace the common word cut with more nuanced words, and see how the mental picture of the sentence changes:
- The butcher chopped the meat with her knife.
- The butcher hacked the meat with her knife.
- The butcher sliced the meat with her knife.
- The butcher skewered the meat with her knife.
- The butcher sawed the meat with her knife.
- The butcher dissected the meat with her knife.
All of these replacements with cut are more nuanced, more specific, and more interesting than the simple idea of cut. This is why it is important to know what the words you use actually mean and not just replace every common word with something picked out of a thesaurus entry. Most of the English language consists of word that are closely related but cannot be swapped in for each other, like jealousy and envy or poisonous and venomous. We call the ones that are most confused with each other yellow words, and like a yellow light or road sign, you should use caution when using them.
Another quick note: I didn't use The butcher butchered the meat with her knife as an example. One of the rule of good diction is to avoid overuse of advanced diction, typically by not repeating the same word in a paragraph unless: 1) the word is a common word, 2) you are intentionally creating a parallel structure, or 3) there is no good equivalent word or phrase (like the word blood). You also want to use advanced diction to specify your language, not complicate your language: in the sentence She broke the old stuff with a heavy mallet, it would help the sentence to replace the vague old stuff with more advanced words (She broke the antique tchotchkes with a heavy mallet) but would make the sentence more confusing if heavy was replaced (She broke the old stuff with the ponderous mallet). Avoid circumlocution (the use of too many advanced words to overcomplicate a sentence) and make sure your sentence don't lack clarity.
Speaking of a lack of clarity, in adding to using an advanced and developed lexicon, it's important to remember to stay away from jargon, which is highly technical language only a professional in the field would use. For example, astronomers talk about sidereal years, retrograde motion, albedo, perigalacton, and syzygy, but the average person, even an educated one, would have no idea what these terms mean. Avoid jargon, and if you absolutely have to use it, make sure to explain the definition of the word.
SYNTAX: sentence construction
Syntax is how an author structures and orders sentences. Look at the following sentences and evaluate how the meaning changes:
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SENTENCE ONE:
Once the funeral is done, we can read the will and find out, once and for all, who Dad really loved more. |
SENTENCE TWO:
We can read the will find out, once and for all, who Dad really loved more after the funeral is done. |
SENTENCE THREE:
We can, once and for all, find out who Dad really loved more after the funeral when we read the will. |
The clauses are all the same (plus or minus some prepositions for proper mechanics), yet each sentence has a different meaning:
These differences are accomplished through rearranging the clauses, as usually the last clause gets the emphasis in dialogue. Syntax also determines if a sentence is in active or passive voice, and what verbal motifs (like parallelism) run through a work of writing.
Syntax also creates ease of reading in the writing. By varying sentence types and lengths, the reader becomes more subconsciously engaged. Short sentences can punctuate longer ones, simple sentences after a long description can conclude a point, and even judicious and intentional sentence fragments can bring writing to life. Nowhere is the power of syntax more obvious than in poetry, where sentence arrangement is a crucial detail agonized over by an author.
- The first sentence puts emphasis on finding out who Dad loved more once and for all
- The second sentence focus on waiting until after the funeral ends.
- The third sentence focuses on the will's importance.
These differences are accomplished through rearranging the clauses, as usually the last clause gets the emphasis in dialogue. Syntax also determines if a sentence is in active or passive voice, and what verbal motifs (like parallelism) run through a work of writing.
Syntax also creates ease of reading in the writing. By varying sentence types and lengths, the reader becomes more subconsciously engaged. Short sentences can punctuate longer ones, simple sentences after a long description can conclude a point, and even judicious and intentional sentence fragments can bring writing to life. Nowhere is the power of syntax more obvious than in poetry, where sentence arrangement is a crucial detail agonized over by an author.
... and then there's MOOD
"Mood? I thought you said there were only four elements of style."
Mood is not an element of style. It's style + setting.
Mood deserves to be mentioned here because style is integral to how mood works. Mood is the atmosphere of the story, often referred to as "how the author tries to make the reader feel." Yet, unlike the other elements of style, mood is not found in informational writing and not always found in other forms of writing; thus, it is not a true element of style. Even a shopping list has tone, basic imagery, diction, and syntax, yet mood only occurs when a setting is described in detail. When an author uses vivid imagery with rich diction to describe a place, the reader ideally starts to feel what the author wants them to feel based on the tone the author takes. Here is an example:
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The door creaked with the heavy groans of disuse. Dust spun in delicate pirouettes as the door scraped along the cracked wooden floor no one had trod upon in decades. A chilling zephyr rushed through the doorway, as if a ghost had been liberated by the sole human presence in the room. Kyle gulped, the stale air filling his lungs with the acrid taste of loneliness. In the shadowed darkness, he spotted the jagged leer of the shattered window, but his baseball... he would have to venture further inside the once proud Victorian manor to find it. With careful, silent steps, he crossed the threshold.
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This paragraph does not exist for plot: all Kyle does is open a door, look around, and decide to step inside. Rather, this paragraph reveals mood, specifically a dark and creepy atmosphere of an abandoned house. And how does the paragraph do this? Go back and look at each line: every single one has a setting element as an anchor for the rich description (door, floor, doorway, air, window, threshold). This is how setting and style work hand in hand to create mood.
USING STYLE
So how can a writer use the elements of style to their advantage? This is tricky to answer, as every element of style is so entwined with the other three that they have to be considered together. For example, changing the diction of a piece impacts the author's tone, alters the syntax of the sentences, and either improves or harms the imagery of the piece. It's also impossible to give general recommendations for improving style as it is linked to genre, structure, and purpose. A collegiate essay requires a different style than a personal narrative just as a horror story requires a different style than one would find in a romance novel.
This doesn't mean that style is an enigma. When authors and critics break down the style of a piece of writing, they refer to literary devices. A literary device is a technique that a writer uses to convey an idea using specific tone, imagery, diction, and syntax. You've probably already heard of several common literary devices like metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, and personification, but there are dozens of different techniques that help create an author's overall style, from anaphora to zeugma. For simplicity's sake, these devices fall into five broad groups:
This doesn't mean that style is an enigma. When authors and critics break down the style of a piece of writing, they refer to literary devices. A literary device is a technique that a writer uses to convey an idea using specific tone, imagery, diction, and syntax. You've probably already heard of several common literary devices like metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, and personification, but there are dozens of different techniques that help create an author's overall style, from anaphora to zeugma. For simplicity's sake, these devices fall into five broad groups:
- ANALOGY: Analogy is a comparison of two things to provide clarity or an example. Literary devices that fall into the category of analogy include metaphor, simile, allegory, metonymy, and euphemism.
- IRONY: Irony is any reversal of expectations where what seems to be the case turns out not to be the case. There are three types of irony: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony, all of which are used to fuel narrative conflict and specifically benefit the genres of comedy, romance, and mystery as well as the postmodern literary movement.
- SONANCE: Sonance is the art of manipulating diction and syntax to make a sentence sound a certain way, and includes assonance, consonance, dissonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and alliteration.
- PARALLELISM: Parallelism is the process of using similar syntax over multiple sentences or similar ideas throughout a work to make the lines or ideas more noteworthy or memorable for the reader. Types of parallelism include anaphora, chiasmus, and lietmotifs.
- SOLECISM: Solecism is the intentional breaking of grammatical conventions for literary effect. Types of solecism include syncope, portmanteaus, anastrophe, litotes, zeugma, parataxis, and ellipsis.