What is style?The sum of all your choices made based on

the combination of elements and approaches to presentation:

Story line (equals single line of action and plot in creative writing)

Subject you are writing aboutLocale/SettingTone and MoodAudience/Reader

See how different the simple, tight style of Hemingway is compared with the grand style of Faulkner.

Learn to use the capacities of the English language.  Style will happen  as a result.

Narrative Writing Strategies: The Anatomy of a Writer1. Brain: “think feelingly,” Use both left and right sides of your brain Write logically but with sensitivity and with

sensations used to the full to involve your reader.

2. Eye: you need to see the world as it is and your writing as it is. 

Look, see, notice and comprehend Make words capture and express the

concrete nuances of your thought. Your story must “put a living world before

the eye of imagination.” Theodore Roethke, “hair on a narrow

wristbone.”

3. Ear: hear the sounds of nature, the sounds of human speech. 

Written dialogue can be a dead giveaway.  Practice recording dialogue and

eavesdroppingUse your ear as an eye.

4. Voice: voice is more than vocabularythe combination of pace, repetitions,

contrast, detail, level of energy, pitch of excitement.

Be yourself, speak an honest tongue.  If the self needs improving, then work at that. We can use Walt Whitman as an inspiration, who extolled, “I sing the body electric/ I celebrate the me yet to come....”

5. Heart: have courage and the capacity for feeling and expressing emotions. 

If a narrative is not worthy enough for you to take the chance and courage to write about, it is not worth writing. 

It takes heart to write about lessons learned.

6. Hands: Do actual writing

manipulate the elements of a narrative:

story line

character (or actors in the narrative);

setting, point of view (or who is speaking in and who is being addressed by the writing)

tone (the writer's attitude towards the topic—are you writing with sarcasm or genuine humor? In earnestness or with a sense of detachment from your subject?)

atmosphere/mood (the sense of 'feeling' about the underlying truth or situation despite the or in consonance with the setting);

language (or the choice of words and devices to create a sense of locale, character, symbol, and style).

Who is a good writer?

The reader/audience will say:

“The author seems to speak from within us.”

How does one write with style?The Writing Process

Go through Pre writing, Writing and Rewriting phasesBehind every good writer is a good editor.A writer who is his/her own editor: exceptional!

Use some prewriting strategiesWrite about what you know– or would like to knowFreewriteObserve and use found “ideas”

Cube it! Who, What When, Where,Why, How?Keep a writing logKeep writing even when you sleepWrite at once what you remember upon

wakingTalk about your writing (plans) with others

Style Guidelines1. The I in your story is not always you.

2. There are no new stories in the world, only fresh ones.If you care about your subject,/story give it a kick in the pants.

4. Avoid cliches like the plague.

3. Show, don't tell. (Render, don’t state)

On language level and dictionKeep it formal or informal, but not slang or colloquialCut out

Tautology (peat again) Wordiness (took a leisurely perambulating route= strolled) Illiteracies (dicussed about, avail of) Barbarisms (irregardless) Malapropisms (cite visit) Too much jargon (used FOSS in the presentation of MOL

for M&E to note)

Simple but concise, preciseSimple but engaging

“Less is more.”

Some style editing requisites1.Revise for clarity and coherence.

2.Revise for mechanical/technical correctness (spelling, punctuation, grammar).

3. Revise for improved diction.

4. Have a critic go over your work. A good critic and a good friend are two different things.

5. Proofread your final copy.