Twice upon a time, there was a young lady in distress. She was not happy with the way of life around her full of corruption, dishonesty, backbiting, fake smiles, dual personalities, deceiving within the family.
Gosh!
All this was making her swirl as she was overwhelmed with her surroundings and with a heavy heart she wanted to shout out to the world…why? For what? How much? Alas! No one to hear her tale since all busy in the grind of life. She wanted an ear or two, but nah! Finally, she took a pen and paper. And she wrote.
She wrote each day until her heart would get lighter. That led to her mind and body to make a connection, and it allowed her to breathe and continue to live and strive for what she was passionate about.
Her messages were simple, and from her heart. She wrote what bothered her, what inspired her and what her intentions were, and soon she became known a writer with a ‘preachy‘ style of writing. At first, she was alarmed, since ‘preaching’ was not in her blood. She only knew to take orders, laugh at minuscule things, and rarely command anyone! In fact, her laughter is still so infectious that when she would start to laugh, people in her company would giggle along courtesy the ‘style‘ of her laughter that would be like a train chugging along the tracks. But since the messages that she typed were getting across, she did not care!
What’s your style of writing that sets you apart or makes you unique?
Literary pundits define a style of writing to fit a purpose or an audience. The kind of choices a writer makes in words, the sentence fluency, they all contribute towards the author’s voice. When Thomas Paine wrote “These are the times that try men’s souls,” he arranged his words to convey a sense of urgency and desperation. Had he written “These are bad times,” it’s likely he wouldn’t have made such an impact!
There are many elements that can contribute to the writing style of a writer, but three of the most important are: Choices of words, Fluency of sentences and Voice.
• Words of Choice
Some authors use short words deleting out the unnecessary wordings while conveying the exact meaning. It’s like keeping the readers on the path without any distraction lead them to their destination of the topic discussed above. They rarely use adverbs; use adjectives sparingly while allowing the verbs to convey the message.
• Fluency
When a sentence has the flow and rhythm by using parallel structures within sentences to reflect identical ideas, the author is aware of how to delete vague words, make the topic of discussion tighter by using the right phrases and ideas to keep the reader on target.
• Voice
Voice is an essential element of style that reveals the writer’s personality. A writer’s voice can be indifferent or friendly, authoritative or reflective, objective or passionate, severe or funny.
Your choices? What are your word choices, sentence structures, and language that you usually use while penning down your thoughts? What is the impact on the reader after your dreams have been read by them? Are you bothered, anxious or curious about the kind of literary style they have tagged you under?
: My 2 cents:
Follow your heart, and let your style be carved naturally rather than being intimidated by what others have to say!
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Ruchira Khanna is a biochemist turned writer who gathers inspiration from the society where she writes about issues that stalk the mind of the man via tales of fiction. She projects the mental growth of her characters thus, making her readers tag her work as, “Books that make you ponder!“
She blogs at Abracabadra which has been featured as “Top Blog” for three years. Many of her write-ups have been published on LifeHack, HubPages to name a few.
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