How aware and intentional are you about your writing style?

[AG31]

Are you aware of your style? If so, how do you describe it? Below are some specifics to help you think about what it is, and whether or not you are intentional about it.

Here is my own response: My style has been called "formal.' Someone once said, "You like a tableau." I like both those descriptions, although there's no intentionality on my part to produce these qualities. I wouldn't even know how to go about it. I do go over and over my text trying to increase the showing vs the telling, particularly focusing on the somatic... how things feel to the MC. My characters have dignity. Again, I don't have to go over the text to give them that quality, it just flows. I write in close 3rd person, and I put some effort into keeping the story focused on what the MC is experiencing, but I didn't know that's what it was called until this year sometime.

Show, don't tell. Do you comb pages of a new work, looking for places to show, not tell?

Crisp, minimalist. Do you look at each sentence, to see if there are words you can remove? Sentences, maybe?

Lyrical. Do you try to make your narrative sing?

Fully developed characters, complete with info about background, and character revealed in dialogue. Do you re-read with that in mind?

Fast paced. Do you literally count pages between plot points that move the story forward?

Characters that are entertaining, bordering on cartoonish. Stories that give pleasure because of their accessibility.

Snappy dialogue, like Spencer.

Snappy narration, like Loren Estelman. Again, if you have it, do you work at it, or does it just flow?

Vivid, meticulous description of surroundings.

 

[Djmac1031]

I once had someone describe my work as "simplistic," and I didn't take offense to that.

While I think I've gotten better at fleshing out details or adding color, I tend to keep things simple in my storytelling.

If a character enters a house, I don't spend a lot of time describing that house, only the important details. I don't delve a lot into what a character does for a living unless those details are important to the story.

My plots are generally pretty simple as well, although again I have branched out over the years and attempted longer, more complex stories.

"Approachable" might be another good word for my style, or at least I'd like to think so.

 

[_Lynn_]

I once had someone describe my work as "simplistic," and I didn't take offense to that.

While I think I've gotten better at fleshing out details or adding color, I tend to keep things simple in my storytelling.

If a character enters a house, I don't spend a lot of time describing that house, only the important details. I don't delve a lot into what a character does for a living unless those details are important to the story.

My plots are generally pretty simple as well, although again I have branched out over the years and attempted longer, more complex stories.

"Approachable" might be another good word for my style, or at least I'd like to think so.

What you said is pretty close to the way I write, too. My characters are far more important than the color of the kitchen walls or the positioning of the furniture. i don't like to read complicated plots or dialogue. And I certainly don't want to stop mid-story to look up the meanings of words.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm very much aware, at least of what I'm trying to do. I like to keep my descriptions minimal, just enough detail to let the reader form a picture in their mind. If a detail is important to the story, I make sure it's included as early as possible.

I also use plain language as much as possible. Short, everyday words, and simple dialogue. But I make every effort to use the words to the best possible effect, so that the sounds and imagery enhance the story.

And then sometimes I go in a completely different direction and go overboard with the lyrical stuff, or a formal and archaic tone, or immensely long run-on sentences. Because I like to try different things, and Lit is the perfect place to experiment. (Fun fact: most of those experiments score higher than my "normal" stories.)

 

[StrentWriter]

Constantly worrying about it, tbh! Third person and normally writing in a present tense. It’s not to everyone’s taste, of course.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I don't know. I guess maybe intuitive or instinctive, because I've never thought about it before, and I don't really think about what effects I want when I'm writing.

Maybe an emotive style? I do sometimes go back over my writing with an eye towards bringing out this or that emotion in my readers, but even that's not frequent.

Usually I just go back over it to go, "Do I like this? Could I make it better?"

What style does that make my writing?

Also, I've never had a reader comment on my writing style.

 

[Djmac1031]

What you said is pretty close to the way I write, too. My characters are far more important than the color of the kitchen walls or the positioning of the furniture. i don't like to read complicated plots or dialogue. And I certainly don't want to stop mid-story to look up the meanings of words.

There are ways to describe a setting in a story that do not require a paragraph of exposition.

The house a character lives in or where a story takes place, for example. You don't have to describe the house in full detail right away, just give readers what they need as they need it.

"I went upstairs..." = there's at least two floors.

"We continually bumped into each other while making breakfast" = the kitchen is small, cramped.

"Looking out my window, I saw my neighbor through hers" = the houses in this neighborhood are close together.

Etc.

 

[_Lynn_]

There are ways to describe a setting in a story that do not require a paragraph of exposition.

The house a character lives in or where a story takes place, for example. You don't have to describe the house in full detail right away, just give readers what they need as they need it.

"I went upstairs..." = there's at least two floors.

"We continually bumped into each other while making breakfast" = the kitchen is small, cramped.

"Looking out my window, I saw my neighbor through hers" = the houses in this neighborhood are close together.

Etc.

Exactly.

 

[AG31]

I once had someone describe my work as "simplistic," and I didn't take offense to that.

While I think I've gotten better at fleshing out details or adding color, I tend to keep things simple in my storytelling.

If a character enters a house, I don't spend a lot of time describing that house, only the important details. I don't delve a lot into what a character does for a living unless those details are important to the story.

My plots are generally pretty simple as well, although again I have branched out over the years and attempted longer, more complex stories.

"Approachable" might be another good word for my style, or at least I'd like to think so.

What about "artless" in the best sense? I was reading a book the other day, the one that prompted this post, and I kept musing about why I was enjoying it so much. I was enjoying it very much. There was no discernible style, but nothing that bothered me. The characters were not well rounded, but they weren't cardboard, closer to the "cartoonish" end of the spectrum, but cartoons are entertaining! Who didn't enjoy comic books at some point in their lives? I was moved along mostly by what would happen next, although there was a bit of psychological drama thrown in.

I came up with "artless" in the best sense of the word.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't stick to any one style of writing. The style meets the requirements of the tale being told.

I write in first person with generally less detail than when I write in close third person. Character details are always important since I think readers need to understand them enough to "fill in the blanks" that I tend to leave for them, especially where the sexual events are concerned.

I frequently do a lot of research and incorporate details on things like geography, the law, or scientific elements relevant to the plot or the characters. I'm also a fanatic about consistency and continuity in a story, keeping character names and timelines straight throughout the story.

 

[THBGato]

Sometimes I just write the story and see what happens. See what tense and narrative voice seems natural.

Other times I have a clear idea of some aspect of imagery/an extended metaphor I want to use (e.g. synthesia in Love is a Place parts 1, 3 & 4; repeated references to smells and heat in Four Weddings and a leaving do) and write that in as I go.

I also perhaps spend too much time thinking about how my characters speak (I'm paranoid about all my characters sounding the same).

 

[Racoonteur]

Very aware.
My style here, (if I continue writing here) is different than any other style I use irl.
I've done journalism. academic research, technical narrative, novels, short story, and poetry for years and am both used to, and intentional about, alternating style and voice in each genre.

I had hoped to experiment with both here but can't seem to get the mods to play nice with my first attempt. I'd love to get past my first chapter, but it seems the powers that be don't like the follow-up effort.

I'm waiting for a couple more days for some kind of a response, then pulling the plug. I'm finding there's plenty of other places out there.

 

[IWroteThis]

If I had to describe mine, I'd probably say, "That's Brisk, baby!" Or, maybe, "Just the facts, ma'am."

It's probably why I'm drawn to the 750 Word Project, but I don't like a lot of fluff when I read, so I don't add a lot of fluff when I write. I also love minimalism in photography, so it's not just my writing…

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't think about it much, because it's the only way I know how to write. It's mostly stream of consciousness in the first place - I don't "construct" anything in terms of conscious decisions about voice, plot, tense, anything like that. A story begins, characters can arrive in the space of a paragraph, things happen, might not.

Readers have described my style as visual, flowing, lyrical, poetic, intimate, stories told by the fire on a cold winter's night.

If anything, my writing is possibly akin to dream logic, with the flow being what it is. I've harnessed that more often more recently, I think, with distinct shifts in the point of view. My most recent short piece, for example, goes from close third pov in the first part, to first person in the second part. I must have been in different moods when I wrote it.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

My writing style is dictated by the main character's voice. One story has the MC as a really curious girl, so there were a ton of questions. One MC was a grieving mother, so a lot of her thoughts were of her late husband, as she slowly let her guard down to someone new, and she was kinda caustic. Another had a guy who overthinks everything, which is a very easy character trait for me to write because I do the same.

People have complimented the flow of my writing, I keep things moving even when the characters are stuck in their head.

I'm really tempted to write an unga bunga empty headed character just to see if I can dial back my normal style. If they don't think the way I write, then I can't write them that way.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

If there's one common comment I've gotten on my stories that I've got comments on is that they happen to be way too erotic. That's probably because I am constantly doing these...

Show, don't tell. Do you comb pages of a new work, looking for places to show, not tell?

Crisp, minimalist. Do you look at each sentence, to see if there are words you can remove? Sentences, maybe?

Fast paced. Do you literally count pages between plot points that move the story forward?

Characters that are entertaining, bordering on cartoonish. Stories that give pleasure because of their accessibility.

Snappy dialogue, like Spencer.

...with a few caveats.

1. Show, don't tell, but also hide; don't show nor tell.
2. The reason my stories are short is because I tend to cut as much shoeleather as I can, hence I don't waste my time with flowery descriptions or lyricism. I am working on a wordcount budget that gets distributed across the entire story, thus it's fast paced. I'm also always, always, always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS removing anything that isn't titillating, or exciting.
3. I'm not sure if they border on cartoonish, but I'm aware that my characters can be unrealistic, and that's what makes them entertaining: they are free to do things no one is able to do. It's called fiction!
4. I've trained myself more with Raymond Chandler and Quentin Tarantino for dialogue than Spencer. Shakespeare has also made me a grave woman for puns, no matter how maddening they could be. I come from Cyberpunk and noir after all.
5. I don't waste time editing. Three editions; each one with one different purpose, that's what I get. No beta readers, editors, or critics UNLESS I need an extra pair of eyes. Whatever the outcome I get is the best outcome I could have. Deadlines are more important than perfection.

Do you know which form of fiction ticks all these boxes? Pulp fiction, which is what I've been training myself for since 2017.

 

[Britva415]

If there's one common comment I've gotten on my stories that I've got comments on is that they happen to be way too erotic

Heh. Around here that has to be intended as a humblebrag

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Heh. Around here that has to be intended as a humblebrag

If you've got it, flaunt it! I personally love your moustache!

 

[Bramblethorn]

My usual writing style:

Introspective: heavy focus on protagonist's thoughts & feelings .
Low on visuals; Riddle of the Copper Coin and to a lesser extent Magnum Innominandum are intentional exceptions.
Mildly esoteric; I don't aim for obscurity but I do write for readers who aren't afraid to learn a new word here and there. MI is again an exception, because it's emulating a late 19th/early 20th genre dominated by an author who loved to pull out obscure words.
Attention to flow.

A former regular of AH described my stories as "long-winded" though he also declared emphatically that he'd never read them and never will. But he was probably right on that one.

 

[Britva415]

If you've got it, flaunt it! I personally love your moustache!

It looks bigger in the picture. But not by much! I've never measured it but I'm sure it's oVeR eIgHt InChEs!

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Honestly, I try not to focus on it too much while writing. I'm not experienced or good enough to safely bend what comes naturally to me too far. I also think that if someone inexperienced like me puts a lot of conscious effort into something like poetic descriptions or only showing never telling, it can easily start to come off more like a gimmick or obsession rather than a style choice.

I try to balance somewhere in the middle on a lot of it. For instance, if I want to get anywhere without a million words, I need to tell some stuff, but I try to take advantage if I can later find a place to show it instead. I also like to vary the level and style of description a bit depending on the situation and character, but again, my skills can only stretch that so far without it becoming weird. Same with a lot of your other points - characters should be entertaining, but not to the point of parody, etc.

I consider stylistic things a bit more while editing and doing re-writes, but for now I think I'm better served by just focusing on the story I'm trying to tell. It's easy to lose yourself in self-consciousness as a new writer. Especially when writing sexual stuff or frequenting threads by much better writers

 

[Off_base]

Honestly, I try not to focus on it too much while writing. I'm not experienced or good enough to safely bend what comes naturally to me too far. I also think that if someone inexperienced like me puts a lot of conscious effort into something like poetic descriptions or only showing never telling, it can easily start to come off more like a gimmick or obsession rather than a style choice.

I try to balance somewhere in the middle on a lot of it. For instance, if I want to get anywhere without a million words, I need to tell some stuff, but I try to take advantage if I can later find a place to show it instead. I also like to vary the level and style of description a bit depending on the situation and character, but again, my skills can only stretch that so far without it becoming weird. Same with a lot of your other points - characters should be entertaining, but not to the point of parody, etc.

I consider stylistic things a bit more while editing and doing re-writes, but for now I think I'm better served by just focusing on the story I'm trying to tell. It's easy to lose yourself in self-consciousness as a new writer. Especially when writing sexual stuff or frequenting threads by much better writers

Same.
I'm winging it and just trying to keep it interesting, hoping others like the story. I have no writing knowledge or style. I've never done drafts or outlines, no writing tools or apps. I'd call it "improv" if I had to name it.

 

[Eosphorus]

I once had someone describe my work as "simplistic," and I didn't take offense to that.

While I think I've gotten better at fleshing out details or adding color, I tend to keep things simple in my storytelling.

If a character enters a house, I don't spend a lot of time describing that house, only the important details. I don't delve a lot into what a character does for a living unless those details are important to the story.

My plots are generally pretty simple as well, although again I have branched out over the years and attempted longer, more complex stories.

"Approachable" might be another good word for my style, or at least I'd like to think so.

I would describe your style as straightforward. And I’ve never read anything of yours that felt flabby or extraneous.

 

[SmilingLez]

I breathe my dark verse
Poems' truth seeps, uncoils
Silence swallows screams

 

[Eosphorus]

Constantly worrying about it, tbh! Third person and normally writing in a present tense. It’s not to everyone’s taste, of course.

I’m a big present tense person, too. First and third person. It feels right and comfortable writing that way. Not everyone’s taste, sure, but it’s my approach.