Writing Styles

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

I want to talk a bit about writing styles.

As I've grown as an author (especially this year, which I can honestly say I'm super proud of) I have noticed slowly that I have a style emerging. I think there are a lot of things I owe to this: composition class, hanging around writing forums (such as XL ), and writing pretty continuously. I also am pretty sure that NaNo helped a lot (nothing like 50,000 words in a month for your true style to come out). I think a large part of them can also be attributed to other authors I love.

I've been going through some of my older fics to revamp them, and I actually have noticed that while it wasn't as clear, these older fics definitely had signs and little qualities that I really use a lot more.

So do you think you have one? Do you notice them? What contributes to a writing style? In fact, talk about how you've grown as a writer. Have at it!

[Snickie]

I can't find any of my old files that I wrote back in elementary school (namely fifth grade), or else I'd post them here. I had some weird story called "The Relationship" going where I basically obsessed over the letter 'P' as well as similar-sounding names. Also, there was this short chapter to a fic that was based off of The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (I think that's what it was called) and also featured a more technologically innovative classroom which, looking back nowadays, was an interesting concept I'd come up with especially for that age. And at one point, I started obsessing over the town names Helena and Havana (the capital cities of Montana and Cuba respectively), so I started writing this fic thing called "Selena, Savana, and Aelita", but I never finished. I can't even remember what it was about. All I really remember about that one was that I would color the background of the text to be some kind of gradient from Aelita's approximate hair color to dark green.

I have a print copy of the Juniper Lee knockoff lying around somewhere, but it'd take forever for me to search all the papers in my closet to find it. Sorry, gaiz.

[aelitaxwilliam]

I don't have time to go through all my old documents now, but yeah, I think I have had a consistent style. But at the same time, I think it also depends on what I'm writing, if that makes any sense? There are the overarching aspects of my writing. I adore snappy dialogue and I love pretty descriptions to the point where I abuse them. I also tend to go for, I'm not quite sure how to describe it, that sort of floaty kind of writing if I can help it. I think that's where different genres come in though. I personally don't like that style of writing when reading tragedy, so I actively try to avoid it then. Or if I'm writing romance, I usually don't like reading detached kinds of romances, so I purposely write in a style that's different than what I naturally take to.

It's definitely interesting going through my old writing though. It's embarrassing, but at the same time, it usually gives me a small boost. I've come a long way. It's almost funny to see those small bits of brilliance that you're not even sure how you wrote. If I'm lucky, I come across a line that I think to myself, "I like this line. If I were to redux this story, I would keep this line. Maybe this is even something I would write today." Of course, it doesn't happen often, but I love it when it does.

[Snickie]

I found a story I started writing in freshman year. Back when I was doing my mysterious angsty blah whatever stuff. I don't remember where I was going with the plotline, but I saw that I had written, ah... very detailed imagery of what exactly was going on, and all I had really gotten to was a physical examination of the narrator. I found another angsty one I wrote back when I had this huge (in Snickie terms) crush on this one guy, where I paired myself with him and his bff with his girlfriend at the time. I wrote it to come to terms with the bff (whom I also had a huge crush on) becoming boyfriend to the other girl. It didn't work very well, but what I had written of it was a nice story. Maybe someday I'll Lyoko-ize it and publish it here.

[PeaceKeeper2014]

Well, my style is very honest to what I'm imagining.

For instance, I ALWAYS imagine movie-like scenes in my head and I can see them, literally. I can see it happening right before my eyes. However, I need words to explain it. My style is straight-forward, however, also invigerating in a way.

It also depends on what I'm writing. If I'm writing realistically, I gotta think realistically and define it in an entertaining, yet accurate and realistic way. My writing is never over-complicated, unless it needs to be.

I try night to get really technical and I keep it easy to understand. But, in the style sense, I'm always about that realistic, yet simple wording. Realism is really something I do if I'm doing a realistic story, which I am doing.

But, for wording and style, I keep things professional without risking using very big words, going technical on one particular situation, and without losing any kind of intelligence value what so ever.

[Coto524]

My style varies slightly, depending on what I'm writing. In poetry, it's normally depressing, using simple language and emotions. In stories, I tend to be quite sarcastic and mention a lot of little things useless to the plot.

I try not to use long, rare words where short, common ones will do.

[Snickie]

Okay, some real notes about my current style, or rather, the one I'm using on Readon and most of my challenges.

I sometimes tend to over describe settings and people that already exist, but if they are different somehow in the story, that's what I do. As for settings, if I'm using an OC, I will describe even familiar settings as if we're seeing for the first time (which, in the case of the OC, is probably true).

I sometimes feel like I lose that descriptiveness, however, when I write dialogue, and I do this when RPing too out of laziness. But the most variation I add to people when they're talking is using a different verb and either an adverb or a simple action, sometimes both. I guess I like to just get it done when I write dialogue.

I have a tendency to overly describe "normal" settings, and the only time I really do it is when something inherently wrong is probably going to happen in the foreseeable future. I'm not very good at writing fighting scenes, having very little experience myself that I can recall on. And sometimes I feel like I describe things a little too quickly for the actual action.

My beta reader seems to like my style, though (and let me tell you, she's an amazing writer <3), and that's all I need when I'm publishing.

[RenaYumi]

I'm pretty proud of the voice my writing carries. I wish I could say it was natural but a whole lot of stiff writing and rewriting later I have a pretty good handle on it. It's pretty distinctive.

I also like to play around with other styles- there's one that I've been working with. It's kind of flippant and dismissive and it drops details, but the emotions that it carries are just awesome. It's not something I've mastered but it's amazing how switching up your style a little bit can help you move forward on something you may have been suck on previously. And I think it gives your writing more depth.

[Kittyclaw]

It's funny, because what I've noticed here is that basically while writers see a simple, overarching style in other people's works, we see a lot more variety in our own. So I'm going to go along and agree with everyone else with my addition that I'm always trying new ways of writing things, different styles I see other people do and different ways to word things, so on my end there's lots of different things I'm doing (and I like to think that a lot of my "style" is me simply doing what's best for the story). But I'm sure there's something I do consistantly through my stories that maybe I don't notice but other people do, and that's what they define as my style.

So maybe style is less about what we do as individuals, but rather what others do to try and simplify someone elses writing into something they can understand and maybe copy themselves?

[eseiprahs]

The only writing style I can think of that I have is that I always write in third person. That's also what I prefer reading. For some reason, third person attracts me more than first.

[Soul Jelly]

I think I have a style, but I'm not sure how to describe it. To me it feels more thoughtful and introspective than anything else but that's possibly just the tone and nature of the stories I write.

I like to switch up styles to keep things interesting and see what I can learn by trying something new, but my 'default' style has always been there, gradually becoming refined into what it is today.

[eseiprahs]

That's pretty cool to try and switch up writing styles. I just feel like I can't "get into" my writing as much if I write in any other point of view other than third.

[Stella Luce 333]

I’m sort of the same way, except I pretty much always write in first person instead of third…I’m also kind of inspired to treat my fics as if they’re TV episodes, but that might be because I took a film class soon after starting on FFN…

[eseiprahs]

Whenever I think of fics to write, I tend to run it through my head like it's a movie. It really REALLY helps to listen to music in order to think of a fic idea.

[Adventurer411]

I haven't really noticed a style in my writing, but then again, I've only (only, compared to you guys at least ) been writing for a little over a year. Though, like Shadows, I am really proud of how I've improved/changed in these last several months.

I kind of do the same thing, Essy, especially when I'm describing things. I usually try to play it through my head and describe the things people would most likely notice or show (ex; the large dresser in the corner instead of the alarm clock on it) to keep it from dragging. I find that the more you visual, the easier it is to paint a picture/help your readers visual too.

[Dr. J]

I tend to be almost sarcastically laconic. I refer to the view point character as "our protagonist" quite frequently, and make semi omniscient comments about the story.

[cya6]

I wonder who could better determine someone's writing style. The author, or someone reading the story.

I myself, couldn't say what my style is. I really couldn't.

[Atlas]

I like semi-omniscient comments myself.

[Koneko on lyoko]

My writing style has changed so much, when I started writing some more of a fic that I will one day update, I realised how much it had changed, I really wanna go back and rewrite it.
My preference of fics has also changed, I used to love light fluff and stuff, but now I prefer more dark things

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