Key Aspects in Analyzing an Author's Style: Think about the following concepts about writing style:
Writing Style
Writing Style
At its most basic, "style' in writing means two things: 1) the machinery of writing 2) the writer's voice. The nuts and bolts of sentence structure, for instance, are part of the grammar boilerplate we all agree to work with (#1). But beyond that how each of us uses the hardware is what personalizes the writing (#2), or what E.B. White described as that which is "distinguished and distinguishing."
Number 1 has clear guidelines, which means we can all learn what constitutes clear, effective writing "style." Number 2 is a matter of putting the rules of #1 to more specialized, appropriate uses--depending on the purpose of the particular writing and the audience for whom it is intended. The guidelines for #2 evolve with our daily language and the society it reflects, but they are also the function of the personality of the writer.
So, what "style" means to most writers is learning the conventions--the wiring diagrams of writing--and using them as effectively as possible. Certain other people, of course, have what we today call an 'attitude': for them the conventions are only a starting place. To make a current analogy: both Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana had splendid tailors and substantial clothing allowances--but Diana had 'style.'
While the intricacies of style can be intimidating, at first, the essential working rules need not be. What follows is a list of basic writerly conventions, introduced with some guiding principles to the conventions that can then inform your experiments with a more personal style.
Here is what some well-known people have said about style:
"A man's style in any art should be like his dress—it should attract as little attention as possible." -Samuel Butler
"Style is a matter of coming to terms with language. . . .in our individual writings we have the same aims—clearness, truth, evocation, some touch of grace." -Elizabeth Bowen
"I never study style; all that I do is try to get the subject as clear as I can in my head, and express it in the commonest language which occurs to me. But I generally have to think a good deal before the simplest arrangement occurs to me." -Charles Darwin
"Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of life." -Matthew Arnold
How You Get Style (and Why Bother, Anyway)?
When you write your first draft your writing doesn't magically appear on paper--with style. Most often style comes from revision, which is where the craft of writing comes in. The content of your first draft might be the gift of inspiration, but the style of your final version is the result of perspiration: working hard to write clearly, with a particular voice, with a particular audience in mind.
"Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of endeavoring to understand others, of thinking for them rather than yourself—or thinking, that is, with heart as well as the head." -Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
"I find that three or four readings are required to comb out the clichés, line up pronouns with their antecedents, and insure agreement in number between subjects and verbs. It is, however, this hard work that produces style. You write the first draft really to see how it's going to come out. My connectives, my clauses, my subsidiary phrases don't come naturally to me and I'm very prone to repetition of words; so I never even write an important letter in the first draft. I can never recall anything of mine that's ever been printed in less than three drafts." -James A. Michner
"There is the first satisfaction of arranging it on a bit of paper; after many, many false tries, false moves, finally you have the sentence you recognize as the one you are looking for. . . ." -Vladimir Nabokov
"A good style in literature, if closely examined, will be seen to consist in a constant succession of tiny surprises." -Ford Maddox Ford
Style Through Words
"Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word when a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use the passive when you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." -George Orwell
Concrete, Specific Words
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts." -Strunk and White
"Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear." -Ezra Pound
--Begin by avoiding adjectives and adverbs. Only use them when the noun or verb can't do the job alone. Used sparingly, adjectives or adverbs can have a powerful impact.
--Use specific nouns whenever possible:
Instead of: I would like to bestow this great honor.
Try: I am honoring Mr. Smith with the Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Instead of: Expensive cars were parked in front of the funeral home.
Try: The Cadillac, Lamborghini and Mercedes were idling in front of the funeral home.
Think of words as cells. The stronger the individual cells, the stronger your piece of writing will be. So you want to use concrete, specific words—because such words create pictures in your reader's head, which makes your meaning clearer—your reader can literally "see" in her imagination what you're saying. The words that you are going to want to rely on most are strong verbs and nouns, not adjectives, to make your writing rich and powerful.
Omit Unnecessary Words...Weeding
"Never use two words when one word will serve better." (Essential Feature Writing)
" My own old fashioned belief is that every Presidential message should be a model of grace, lucidity and taste in expression. At the very least, each message should be (a) in English, (b) clear and trenchant in its style, (c) logical in its structure and (d) devoid of gobbledygook." -John F. Kennedy
"In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style." -Sydney Smith
Unclutter your sentences. Write clearly and directly by making every word in a sentence count. Remove empty words and phrases. Here are some specific ways to prune your sentences of useless words:
--Cut redundant or irrelevant words:
Instead of: I personally think that absolute perfection is called for in the coming future.
Try: I recommend perfection in the future.
--Weed out qualifiers that describe how you feel or think: kind of, really, very, extremely, personally
--If there is a simpler way to say something, do so.
--Avoid vague words like: thing, idea, situation, impact, nice
--Use shorter words that get your meaning across instead of longer words that mean the same thing: instead of utilize, use; instead of disclose, show; instead of endeavor, try; instead of inquire, ask. Typically the most memorable pieces of writing demonstrate conciseness.
--Cut adjectives and adverbs, especially those that generally weaken writing: really, perhaps, very, somewhat, quite, rather, a lot, a bit, partly, actually, generally, basically, virtually.
--Look for a verb that will incorporate the meaning of the adjective or adverb: instead of 'he talked slowly:' 'he drawled.'
Note: conciseness doesn't mean that you write short, choppy sentences, or that you cut out detail; it means that you simply take out empty words and phrases. But when you're stuck trying to fix a wordy phrase or sentence, step back and see if you need it at all. Sometimes you can simply omit the whole thing.
"I see but one rule: to be clear." -Stendahl
Powerful Verbs and Nouns
"Write with verbs and nouns. The adverb signifies the failure to find the right verb; the adjective, failure to find the right noun." - Donald Murray
"Whatever the thing you wish to say, there is but one word to express it, but one verb to give it movement, but one adjective to qualify it; you must seek until you find this noun, this verb, this adjective." -Gustav Flaubert
"Cut these words and they would bleed." - Emerson
"To write simply is as difficult as to be good." - W. Somerset Maugham
Use words with muscles: action verbs and concrete nouns.
Verbs: Verbs will be your most useful writing tools. They give a sentence energy and move it forward. Active verbs push hard; passive verbs are whimpy.
Avoid verb phrases. Substitute a succinct single verb:
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--Use specific verbs and avoid vague ones. Use action verbs instead of verbs of being (is, are, was, were, be, being , been).
Instead of: I was happy.
Try: I danced with delight, or I cavorted with joy.
Nouns: Avoid using two or three nouns in a row:
Instead of: winter storm warning situation:
Try: it's going to snow
Instead of: hostage standoff situation:
Try: people taken hostage
Avoid these kinds of vague nouns: area, things, ideas, activity , aspect, nature, case, field
Avoid Clichés, Jargon, Euphemism, Inflated Language
"If we don't quit utilizing the English language, we are going to finalize it." -Don Ranley
Clichés: words or phrases that have been used so often they have lost their freshness and meaning. Relying on clichés is a sure way to make your writing predictable and boring. Strike them from your writing and choose fresh language and images—it's the difference between heating up a TV dinner and levitating your pasta with magic mushrooms.
A sample gallimaufry of overworked clichés:
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Jargon: shoptalk words that have no general clear meaning, used by writers to suggest they are in the know (or to cover what they don't know).
Jargon words epidemic this era: prioritize, access, interface, ongoing, input, user-friendly, interpersonal.
Be especially suspicious of words that end in '-ize' or '-ate.' Nouns and adjectives used as verbs are usually jargon: to author; to parent; to network; to impact, to maximize, utilization, to originate, to facilitate, to collatoralize
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Avoid verbs that people turn into nouns: impact, interface.
Euphemism: language used to elude or overstate the raw reality of an idea. Often euphemisms are polite versions of the truth: he passed on rather than he died. Words that soften or camouflage, euphemisms rob your writing of vividness and honesty.
The reason to avoid euphemisms is that it makes the writer sound either mealy-mouthed or pretentious at best and dishonest at worst. Euphemisms run the gamut from relatively harmless language like 'landfill' for 'dump' to murderous camouflage such as 'ethnic cleansing' for 'genocide.'
Denotation and Connotation
"All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them." - Felix Frankfurter
Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word.
Connotation is the emotional charge of a word.
For instance, house and home have similar denotations, but quite different connotations. A house is a structure one lives in, but a home carries all the emotional energy of comfort, security and perhaps family.
As writers, we need to be sensitive to the constantly evolving emotional voltage of language. For example, the preferred word to describe people who live in the Far East is today 'Asian,' no longer 'Oriental.'
You can no longer use the word 'gay' to simply describe someone who is upbeat and happy. Denotation and connotation both evolve, and the accurate writer needs to monitor that process.
Inflated Language
Inflated language consists of words that are not your own, language meant more to impress than to convey meaning. Only you can be the judge, but if you find yourself replacing simple words with longer ones, that may be a clue: do you inaugurate things or start them? Do you exhibit things or show them? Do you dwell at home or live there? Do you purchase or buy? Do you drive a vehicle or a car ? Do you possess or own? Do you interface or talk?
If you set out to decorate your writing, you'll probably obscure your voice and maybe the meaning of what you have to say. Your writing will sound phony and readers hate that. As in life, in your writing be yourself.
There are also inflated phrases that generally you should avoid:
- in the final analysis
- it would appear that
- fullest, possible extent
- to summarize the above
Style Through Sentences
"No dependent clauses, no dangling things, no flashbacks, and keeping the subject near the predicate. We throw in as many fresh words as we can get away with. Simple, short sentences don't always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it vital and alive. Virtually every page is a cliffhanger—you've got to force them to turn it." - Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
Passive Voice
"Choose the passive when you don't know who did it, your readers don't care who did it, or you don't want them to know who did it." - Joseph M. Williams
How would you rather be characterized—as a passive or an active partner?
Would you like to be described as dull or exciting?
Passive sentences are dull, usually, because the verbs are not active. Sometimes this is done purposely. Think of politicians, masters of passive language: < font color=blue>A number of people were killed today. As opposed to: We killed a number of people.
Passive language helps the writer avoid showing responsibility, and so it is often used to make the writing impersonal. Granted, this is sometimes useful, but generally the passive voice makes for boring writing and should only be used deliberately. [Passive Voice]
Rule of thumb: be active in your choice of passive and passive in your choice of active.
Variety, Coordination, Parallelism, Subordination, Emphasis
Writers usually work to create a smooth, clear writing style. This is only achieved after thoughtful, informed revision. The way to achieve this is by experimenting with sentence structure until you achieve the kind of sentence variety, emphasis--and clarity-- you're after.
Variety
Variety in the length and structure of sentences is the way writers create interesting and textured prose.
Length: If your sentences are almost all very long or almost all very short, your writing is probably monotonous. Either way, your readers may have difficulty understanding what you're trying to say and the relationship between your thoughts and ideas. If your sentences are excessively long then you may need to make some shorter, more succinct sentences. If your sentences tend to be very short, you may need to add details or combine them in compound sentences or by using Subordination.
Structure: Watch how you begin sentences. If you only begin sentences only with the subject, for instance, you may lull your readers to sleep. Some experts suggest, too, that you never begin any sentence with there is or there are. Just excising those empty building blocks can radically restructure any sentence.
Instead of: There are dangers here.
Try: Help! Danger!
Details: Adding details will make your writing livelier and give it texture. Details support, explain, illustrate, describe, clarify, develop--give life-- to your ideas. Details make the idea real and meaningful to the reader. Often details call on our senses. Here is a paragraph from Tinker at Pilgrim Creek by Annie Dillard that shows how vital details can be:
- The landscape of earth is dotted and smeared with masses of apparently identical individual animals, from the great Pleistocene herds that blanketed grasslands to the gluey globs of bacteria that clog the lobes of lungs. The oceanic breeding grounds of pelagic birds are as teeming and cluttered as any human Calcutta. Lemmings blacken the earth and locusts the air. Grunion run thick in the oceans, corals pile on pile, and protozoans explode in a red tide stain. Ants take to the skies in swarms, mayflies hatch by the millions, and molting cicadas coat the trunks of trees. Have you seen the rivers run red and lumpy with salmon?
Combining two complete thoughts, or two sentences, into one equally balanced, compound sentence signals a significant relationship between them. Best done by making the two parts of the new sentence grammatically alike, and connecting them with a coordinator:
Instead of:Dark leafy vegetables contain high amounts of calcium. Milk is a good source of calcium.
Try: Dark leafy vegetables and milk are good sources of calcium.
Instead of: Herbs are easy to grow and are often attractive plants. They also are a source of home remedies for minor illnesses.
Try: Herbs are not only easy to grow and attractive in your garden, but they are also a source of home remedies for minor illnesses.
By indicating relationship you achieve coherence in your writing. Your writing also sounds smoother and your thinking sounds less simplistic.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -Oscar Wilde
Instead of: My relaxed-fit shorts are looking dated this spring. I went shopping for slim- fit shorts.
Try: Because my relaxed-fit shorts look dorky this spring, I raced out to buy slim-fit ones.
Parallelism
If you have two sentences with parallel meanings, then coordinate them through parallel sentence construction. Parallelism allows form to echo function.
Parallelism in your sentences will help make writing satisfying to the reader as does applesauce with pork ( for example). Famous sayings are remembered not only for their content, but for their symmetry. Parallel construction is pleasing to the ear's palate:
"We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." -Ben Franklin
"Outside noisy, inside empty." -Chinese proverb
"A living dog is better than a dead lion." -Ecclesiastics
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." -Lincoln
"Whether the knife falls on the melon or the melon on the knife, the melon suffers." -African proverb
Subordination
Subordination in a sentence can make your main idea stand out. By putting the less important information in subordinate phrases the writer alerts the reader to what is most important.
Sentences with subordinate phrases are more sophisticated than simple sentences, and they are referred to as complex sentences. Sophistication in writing means being able to deal with complex thoughts or the interrelationships of things in one thought, which is why you need subordination. Subordination displays the relationship between the ideas and details in a sentence.
- Those spring shorts, the orange plaid ones with huge pleats-- which I also like for their flare and roominess--are looking dated (not to mention dorky) this spring.
You want your description to contain the following points:
- My neighbor plays the tuba.
- He practices late at night.
- He's also in a marching band.
- To warm up for parades he walks around and around his house, playing his tuba.
- He does his warm up early in the morning, before it's hot.
- Because of my neighbor, I get little sleep.
- My neighbor, who plays the tuba in a marching band, either practices late at night or early in the morning when it's cooler outside, marching around and around his house rattling windows with his bass notes and robbing me of sleep.
or
- My shorts are comfortable and I like them because they are roomy, have big pleats and are orange plaid, but they look dorky compared to what the models are wearing in magazines.
Relations Signaled by Subordinators
- Time
- after, as long as, as soon as, before, ever since, until, when, whenever, while
- as if, as though, if, provided that, unless
- because, since
- although, even though, though, whereas, while
- in order that, lest, so that
- however, whatever, whichever, whoever
- whence, where wherever
- so that, that
- than
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