27 Style – Simplicity
In this chapter you will learn:- the three guiding principles for a better style;
- how to avoid heavy, unreadable prose;
- how to write sentences that avoid the danger of losing your
reader; - how to use the length of sentences and punctuation to create the
rhythm in your prose that is nearer to talk in print; - how to use words to convey your meaning accurately.
When some students reach this stage, all too often they’re ready
just to shrug their shoulders and give up on their writing, dismissing
it despairingly with the words, ‘I just haven’t got a very good style,
that’s all!’, as if this was somehow God-given, encoded into our DNA.
It probably comes from our early schooling when children were given
prizes for their compositions, and from that moment on we came to
believe the world is somehow divided between those who have writing
talent and those who have not – and there’s not a thing we can do
about it.
But this is just not so. There is much we can do to improve our style.
The simplest thing is just to read more: the more literature we read,
the better our style. Like a process of photosynthesis it filters down
through our consciousness, enriching our thought processes and
sharpening our use of words without us being aware that anything
significant is happening. Get into the habit of reading well-written
novels, so that you’re always in the middle of reading one. Just fifteen
to twenty minutes a night before you go to sleep will in time have
a marked impact on your writing.
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