Can you describe your writing style?

[8letters]

I've been thinking about my writing style quite a bit lately. I've not actually sat down and written out what I think my writing style is, but I've thought enough about it recently that I think I could do that. Could you describe your writing style in a couple hundred words? If so, how would you?

 

[HeyAll]

I actually thought about this a couple days ago.

I try to write as simple as possible. Looking at modern mainstream books, to me, so many of them are over written. When I look at the first page it's often hard to figure out what's going on or what the words are trying to describe.

I've gotten a lot of comments about how my stories are so descriptive, but I don't think they are. I just try to write in a way that the reader can visualize everything themselves, how they want. I actually give very little detail for settings or what the characters look like.

But of course, you can't write too simply, or else it would look too low grade.

What I do to add quality to the writing is alternate sentences and the amount of commas used. For instance, if two sentences in a row have no commas, then the next sentence will be expanded and long enough to have two commas.

Also, I try to avoid starting paragraphs and sentences with the same words. This helps me diversify my words choices and descriptions to enhance the writing.

 

[PoisonPen33]

Humorous - Skinemax, but with the desperate need for an editor to cut down on my wordiness.

Serious - Someone said that writing should be like a song, with different notes coming together to create music. I try to vary my writing within a paragraph in terms of sentence length and word choice, but the paragraph/section as a whole keeps to a general rhythm/presentation. Short sentences, longer sentences, sentences joined together by "and" or "however," and the like.

 

[Payne_Hall]

Does “nerdy, wordy ramblings of a horror obsessed, hopeless romantic” count as a writing style?

If so, then that’s it. That’s the one.

 

[Blind_Justice]

I can't describe my writing style. A friend of mine recently called it "extremely dense". I hope it was meant as a compliment.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm not sure if I can describe it, but I can describe the guidelines I try to follow and what I aspire to. I see writing and publishing a story as a communicative act. It's not just me expressing myself; it's me getting a story across to a reading audience. I generally write in (what I hope is) grammatically conventional, reasonably clear prose. On the other hand, I like to try to expand my vocabulary as I write, so in my narration I will sometimes seek out and use words I seldom if ever use in conversation. I often use a thesaurus to try to get just the right word in a particular spot.

I grew up reading a lot of classic literature from different eras, and my favorite model for prose style is mid-to-late 20th century American and English novelists. I don't try to emulate them so much as I try to distill solid prose-style principles from their works and try to follow those principles. Some authors that come to mind are E.B. White, Graham Greene, John Steinbeck, John Le Carre, Saul Bellow, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Larry McMurtry, Roald Dahl, Wallace Stegner. John Updike, Elmore Leonard, Philip Roth, Ralph Ellison. They encompass a very broad range of styles, but in general their prose is easy to read and clear. I enjoy writers with more difficult styles, like Thomas Pynchon or William Gaddis or Vladimir Nabokov, but I don't try to be like them. I prefer to be more straightforward.

I try to write in a style that's somewhat natural and relaxed, but not entirely relaxed. I try to keep my style more or less in line with the Chicago Manual of Style, which I always keep nearby. I usually write with complete sentences, standard punctuation, standard dialogue formatting, variable paragraph lengths, and a constant mix of dialogue, narrative, and description. I treat "rules on writing" like "don't use adverbs" as "useful things to keep in mind" as opposed to hard and fast rules.

Another thing I believe about good writing is that the most important part of speech is the verb. Focus on your verbs and your writing will get better. Let them do the heavy lifting.

Whether I achieve what I aspire to is another matter. I don't know if I'm a good judge of that.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I can't describe my own style grammatically because I'd need someone else to deconstruct it and tell me, but it's been described by others as: slow and languid, laconic, like sipping whiskey before a winter fire, immersive, using all senses, almost poetic, like a movie, cinematic, meandering like a river, curled at your feet hearing stories, not like anything I've read around here, effortless.

When I'm on a roll I'm very much a stream of consciousness writer, heavy on mood, thin on plot or disconnected on plot, and the words flow naturally. If I was to describe myself, I'd say like dreams on a page - which is what they are, I guess.

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

When I'm on a roll I'm very much a stream of consciousness writer, heavy on mood, thin on plot or disconnected on plot, and the words flow naturally. If I was to describe myself, I'd say like dreams on a page - which is what they are, I guess.

Well said...

 

[8letters]

I write mostly I/T brother-sister stories, and they typically follow this general plot:
1. The brother and sister are not interested in each other initially
2. The brother and sister are between relationships
3. The brother and sister are isolated together for some reason
4. Because there's no one else to spend time with, the brother and sister spend time with each other
5. The relationship between the brother and sister slowly develops in a series of steps. Each begins to see how the other really compliments them
6. The brother and sister each deny that they are developing feelings for the other
7. At some point, the brother and sister can't deny their feelings anymore, and cross the line

I've done some work on Romance stories, and I somewhat follow that plot line for them as well.

Other aspects of my style:
* My characters are very financially aware. Their jobs/careers are very important to them. What they do is reflective of their current income
* I think of writing as putting down dominoes. The action in this scene leads to this action in the next scene, which leads to that action in the next scene. It's rare for me to have a scene or a part of a scene that doesn't advance the plot
* My stories have very few loose ends
* My writing is very easy to read. Not in terms of vocabulary or sentence structure, but in terms of the information is presented in a way that's easy to parse, the reader knows everything they need to know for a scene to make sense, and everything moves forward in a very logical manner. I have plot twists, but they're not out-of-the-blue
* I try to have creative sex scenes. I try to avoid vanilla sex on a bed

 

[SamScribble]

I try for greater clarity, more style. The simpler the better. If I stray too far from 'The cat sat on the mat', it probably needs an edit.

 

[jaF0]

Done this thread before, pretty sure.


Most are inspired by the letters that used to proliferate in Penthouse, Variations, etc. They generally purport to tell the tales almost like in a diary, or a letter to be submitted to a publication.

Until recently all were stand alone with no connection.

It's intended to read as an amateur would write something, not a professional writer for pay.

 

[Ian_Snow]

Dialogue and character heavy, with an eye towards fantastical and exaggerated sex juxtaposed with settings and plots I hope keep the readers interested when there aren't fun bits being knocked together.

 

[TadOverdon]

Circuitous and inconsistent?

 

[TxRad]

Someone a while back had a line in their sig that went: A writer is a lair with typing skills.

Me, I'm a storyteller only I'm typing and not speaking.

 

[jaF0]

Someone a while back had a line in their sig that went: A writer is a lair with typing skills.

That's Jack:


"" Fiction writers are just liars with typing skills. " "

http://forum.literotica.com/member.php?u=1019186

 

[Payne_Hall]

Circuitous and inconsistent?

This is my favorite answer. I second this.

 

[Voboy]

Active voice.

 

[NotWise]

My writing style has changed since I first started here, but I'm not sure I'm the one to describe it.

I reread some style-oriented public comments on more recent stories. Readers say my style is engaging, confusing, jumpy, and laconic.

 

[lovecraft68]

I write the way I speak and hear other people speak, I don't use ten dollar words, purple prose or am overly descriptive.

My characters drive the story in the sense I rely heavily on dialogue or their thoughts rather than narrative and exposition. I don't describe settings in great detail unless it somehow plays into the scene.

I don't outline, I get my basic idea get the starting point in my head and freestyle all the way through.

Someone here gave me a great compliment when they said my writing style was akin to sitting back in a comfy chair and listening to a friend talk to you, you can hear the characters in your mind.

 

[jomar]

Eclectic...depends on the story I’m writing and what I’m shooting for.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I try for greater clarity, more style. The simpler the better. If I stray too far from 'The cat sat on the mat', it probably needs an edit.

The feline placed its anterior portion on the door portal cleansing surface.

Don't see your problem, Sam .

 

[TadOverdon]

I'm more willing to use a broader vocabulary right now than I have been in past stories. Frisson is a good word and if someone's eyes skip over it, well, happens to most readers at one time or another.

 

[SamScribble]

The feline placed its anterior portion on the door portal cleansing surface.

Don't see your problem, Sam .

Aww ... you passed on the opportunity to squeeze in 'quadruped' and 'Felis catus', EB.

 

[NotWise]

I'm more willing to use a broader vocabulary right now than I have been in past stories. Frisson is a good word and if someone's eyes skip over it, well, happens to most readers at one time or another.

I see "fission" which makes no sense, so I have to re-read.

 

[gordo12]

I'm more willing to use a broader vocabulary right now than I have been in past stories. Frisson is a good word and if someone's eyes skip over it, well, happens to most readers at one time or another.

Frisson is a cool word. I had my first chance to use it in "The Bet."

"A small frisson of bitterness was starting to well up, pushing him aside."

A great word to express building emotion. You get the context and meaning even if you have no idea what it is.

As far as style goes, I haven't got a clue. I start writing, and things flow. Or not! I've had a lot of readers say you write like XXXXXXXX, but I really don't see things like that. And frankly, writing Sci-Fi one day, Westerns the next, followed by Romance or Loving Wives. One style does not beget the others.