Unit 5

Style

Style is not something that you add to your prose like a decoration: style is the essence of your writing. The only raw material you have to create your fictional world, to make your reader see, hear, smell, feel and think, is language, which is why your choice of words and their arrangement are so important.

Your writing style is individual: it is your voice reflecting who you are and how you think. No one can give you a style if you don’t have one, because it comes from within. Still, a style can be polished and improved. Usually, writers need to write for a few years before developing a style of their own. You can learn a few rules that will help your style.