People tend to get very defensive about their style. They believe it is something innate and very personal which can hardly be transformed. However, this is a wrong idea which can lead to many people being indoctrinated in their mistakes.
A writing style is all about choices. As a writer this is what you do on a regular basis. You need to choose what adjective to use, what sentence structure to stick to, and what motive to emphasize. Good writers know what works best and makes their creation shine.
In this article you will learn some helpful tips on ameliorating your writing style without losing your personality. You will learn how to balance control and freedom, and how to develop a kind of style which will correspond both to your individuality and people’s preferences.
Tip # 1: Pay Attention to the Nuances
You may remember the article about professional writing. There I’ve talked about the importance of omitting unnecessary details. However, here I would like to underscore the significance of a nuanced approach when deciding what details to include.
There is an abundance of words in the English language. However, as a good writer you need to be extremely careful when choosing which ones to use. For instance, staring is different from watching as well as shimmering is not the same as glittering.
You need to understand what kind of emotional image certain words provoke. Only then can you write like a true professional, and not just like an English major student who learned a bunch of fancy words. Nasty little essays can be bought with us after all.
Tip # 2: Remember the Language Pyramid
Frank Convoy, a renowned American writer developed a language pyramid which means to help aspiring writers all over the world construct meaningful texts. Basically, the main point you need to remember from it is that the connotation cannot exist without the denotation and vice versa.
Let’s say you really like some metaphor. However, if it does not convey the message, it makes no sense to utilize it, no matter how beautiful it sounds. Let’s say you want to emphasize that your character is envious of their friends. The obvious choice would be to include the green color in the description.
In English you may say that some is green with envy when talking about an envious person. So, if you use a different color to describe envy, the message will be lost.
Tip # 3: Do Not Shun From Clarity
Many writers like to use very colorful and eloquent language. Often they sacrifice clarity for the sake of sounding original and mysterious. However, this is a wrong approach to take as if the reader does not understand your message, that ostentatious beauty is meaningless.
The reader cannot second guess what you mean. Just imagine how frustrating it will be for you if your message is interpreted in the wrong way. Therefore, you need to select the words and sentence structures very carefully while at the same time minding your tone and voice.
It is always a good idea to give your writing to somebody else to read and critique. This way you will see how your work is perceived by others and not just by you in your head. It goes without saying that writing papers is so much easier when you do not write them yourself.