So You Think You Can Write: Developing Your Own Style

​At some point during your writing journey, you'll come to realize that you always tend to write the same way. Some people prefer plain language, some like fancy words. Some like short sentences. 

This part of the journey usually happens organically. We learn things as we go. We incorporate constructive criticism. We rely on our preferences.

The beauty of writing is that there is no "correct" style. It's open to interpretation. Conventions of spelling, grammar and punctuation can be outright ignored because they simply aren't binding. 

My style, I've come to understand, is molded from so many different things. I tend to use simpler language, a product of years of journalism. 

I use short paragraphs, something borrowed from the news industry, then kept by me when I realized how much easier it was for me to read a paragraph that had no more than three sentences.

Adjectives are used sparsely in writing, I would rather my sentences just get to the point. In my estimation, you're smart enough to imagine a character's long, curly blonde locks without me describing them in detail. At least part of my aversion to adjectives is rooted in my experiences reading (and largely hating) Charles Dickens.

There's a funny thing about style, though. People come to expect a certain kind of writing from you. No one I know would expect me to write something with flowery language and spot-on grammar. When you read Dickens or Mark Twain, the stories are all different, but there's a thread of commonality to the writing that makes it easy to distinguish.

I think in order to transition from a modest writer into a good one you need to build a style. In today's age of "branding", it's one of the more important elements associated with you, the writer. Good writers can take a tired, beaten story and tell it in a completely new way. It's not unlike a comedian who uses a whiny voice for a specific character they've developed for comedic effect.

Think about your own style. Don't compare it to other, well-known authors. Have you given serious thought to it?