How To Style Your Story

But know this: What you are, is what you write! In other words, your character as a person will show in what you write. That means you are a unique person, and your style should also be unique. Do not, therefore, start by aping another writer’s style. It will show. You are sure to fail!

Now, let’s consider a few things about the language and style of your work.

1.Sentence Structure
This is important because your story will be written in sentences. Your sentences should support your theme. They should say what you mean.

It will also be nice to vary your sentence patterns. Mix short and long sentences, but not too long that your reader finds himself gasping for breath. Not too fancy expressions, or affected constructions.

There should be unity in your sentence structure and a smooth transition from one paragraph to the other.

The active voice (It is interesting) is preferred to the passive voice (It is being interesting).

2.Diction
Your choice of words and phrases matters. Do not use high sounding, impressive words. You will be writing like Tom Wolfe, or Winston Churchill. Try the Ernest Hemingway approach. Simple expressions that your reader will understand.

Shun abstract diction and formulaic terms like clichés and jargons. It makes your work vague and makes you guilty of padding.

Instead, use concrete language. Say, “the boy, who stole my pen,” not “the expropriator of my calligraphic material”. Or, does that make sense to you?

It must be said, however, that some writers have broken the rules of English grammar. (I have read whole chapter of a book full of meaningless words without punctuation.) Even some have combined English and foreign passages without bordering to explain them to their readers. Would you like to write like that? Not if you want to excel.

3. Tone
The tone of your work should be personal and friendly. Yes, the informal style is recommended as opposed to the formal and impersonal tone. Refer to yourself as “I”. Address your reader as “you”. Use “we” or “us” to refer to your reader and yourself.

So, use the tone that you would use to speak to your friend. But do not be too informal or slangy. However, you should use appropriate tone for your characters -- formal, semi – formal, informal, colloquial and slang, depending on their educational background.

Also, avoid offensive languages such as racist overtones. Remember that you intend your work to be read by all nations, tribes, people, tongues and sexes. If then the tone of your work is biased, you would lose readership.

4. Distance
Suppose you walked to an uneducated criminal and told him that he was under cardiac arrest. What would he think? I guess he would think a crack team of police was after him. And run!

But if you told him he had heart disease, and you are a doctor; would he run? No. He would come closer to get cure. So it is with writing.

It is not the language you use as a doctor in a seminar of the College of Surgeons or as a scientist in a space ship full of astronomers, that you use when talking to the common man. The tone of your language, therefore, dictates the distance between you, and your reader.

If the distance is far, your reader may feel you don’t consider him; and put your book away. But if the distance is close, he will be happy to read on.

5.Figures of Speech
Figures of speech or imagery should be used with care as they tend to be abstract. But when carefully used, they enhance the beauty of your language.

You do not need to read a book of Figures of Speech to know them, because it is part of your daily expressions.

Let’s look at the story of the fight scene again to see if we can find some there: The police and a madman could not stop the fight (irony), you were catapulted by a missile up the bridge (humor), you followed a snake to the river (hyperbole), and waited for the Queen (climax).

If you, therefore, write the way you speak, your peculiar language and style will be manifest.

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