Writing needs style. Your selections from poems to commercial text affect what readers respond to and know already. Every author has a unique writing style depending on their language use, degree of formalism, and sentence construction.
Developing and polishing your unique writing style is vital, especially in the digital age, when readers continuously seek fresh and insightful ideas. When you’re first beginning out, it’s challenging to perfect your writing and represent your unique voice.
Find Your Style!
Writing styles vary widely, but many use short phrases and straightforward language to draw in their audience. Moreover, it would be best to preserve your narrative tone, but careful decisions regarding structure and language may also help you enhance your reader’s understanding and enjoy the text.
Your writing is distinctive, but it shouldn’t be confusing. For instance, authors like Virginia Woolf have recognizable literary elements. Woolf’s style of introducing a stream of consciousness, specific sentence structures, etc., help her stand out from all other authors.
Similarly, Shakespeare writing style is so authentic, one can easily find through the sarcasm, soliloquies, setting, etc., that the text he is holding is Shakespeare’s. A competent writer utilizes several literary elements for varied purposes.
The voice you use and tone in your writing are the key features that develop your writing style. In general, there are four types of sentences or writing styles. These are:
- Narrative writing,
- Descriptive writing,
- Expository writing, and
- Persuasive writing.
You can use more than one type of writing technique in your text, but the natural elements you have in your writing are your essence. Primarily, it would help if you continue to stay yourself.
Hence, you must develop your particular writing style. Determine your eccentricities, refine your method, and be prepared to adjust and remain loyal to your writing style. Here are some tips for you on how to develop your writing style:
Be Yourself
Many individuals attempt to write in the style of their writing teachers. It is common for individuals to try to write in a particular fashion. They try to write in the manner their teachers have instructed them to write or in the way their mentors write. On the other hand, being genuine to oneself is one of the essential components of writing.
According to John Keats, “If Poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all.” We can apply the same to all kinds of literature since being natural while writing is significant.
Read Your Previous Texts
Finding one’s identity is one of the most critical steps in building one’s writing style.
You must read some of your older work to understand your writing style. You may develop your technique and improve in the areas you struggle with, but the first step is still identifying who you are.
Read through everything you’ve written so far, whether it’s a letter, an essay, the plot of a story, or even the first few chapters. You will, in due time, learn more about the thinking and writing style that come naturally to you.
Look At Your Bookshelf And Realize What You Are
To be a successful writer, you must be an avid reader. Reading has an uncanny effect on your writing style. Unfortunately, many individuals are unaware of the impact their reading has on their lives.
A bookshelf is a must if you are a voracious reader. The novels you read reveal a great deal about your personality. When you’re reading, be precise.
Stay Loyal To Your Originality
Read the classic literature, work on enhancing yourself, but don’t lose sight of who you are originally. Improving oneself does not involve becoming someone or something else in the process. To establish your writing style, you must study various sources and incorporate what you’ve learned into your honest representation of words.
Practice
Practice things you think should be in your writing. When reading something, note down the points you want to add to your writing. For instance, the following are the things that you can add to your writing:
- Not-so-long sentences,
- Keep things simple,
- Exaggerate where needed. Too much exaggeration can end up ruining the original message,
- Do not beat around the bush,
- Stay concise,
- Avoid using passive voice, etc.
Edit & Correct
After reading and practicing something, another vital thing is editing. When you get hold of things you were doing wrong, start editing and correcting them.
Finally!
The writing style is an author’s voice and style while conveying a storyline or concept.
As with deliberate ways, you may express yourself in a way that is authentic and relevant to the context in which you find yourself. As long as you’re conscious of your patterns and are open to changing them, your narrative voice will evolve and change through time.
Explore using additional, more sophisticated strategies for improving your way of writing if you believe you have a firm grasp of your writing style.