Hey all, Sunny here with another writing post! Today we’re talking about writing styles and how to find yours.

Let’s take a moment to reflect. All the books you’ve ever read… the authors all sounded different, right? We see voice and description and action all used in a unique way, almost every time. These authors have all found the writing styles that suit them best. But deciding how you want your writing to flow or to sound can be a bit of a daunting task if we don’t break it down. So we’ll start with that.

Why is writing style important?

For me personally, writing style is absolutely huge when it comes to my enjoyment of a book. It helps authors find their audiences; some people like more punchy dialogue, for example, while others stray towards soft descriptions.

Just as everyone writes differently, everyone reads differently. Different writing styles appeal to different reading styles, no matter how much we may try to make our work appealing to all. It just kind of happens like that.

The focus, therefore, is less on appeal than it is on finding how you write. Maybe you stray towards one type of writing more than the other; that’s where you find the kind of writer you are. It’s also where you find you’re able to become the most comfortable with your work, which should always be the top priority. (That whole, “Write for yourself,” thing? Yeah, that.)

How can I find my writing style?

I’ve found my main writing style through two questions that I consistently ask myself:

1. When I sprint or draft, how do I write?
   
2. When I edit, how do I want to write?

The first question tells you the kind of writing you do on instinct. When it’s time just to get the story onto the page without worrying how it reads, you find what I’d refer to as your innate writing style.

The second question tells you about your main priorities when it comes to your audience, or what you consider a “finished product”. You start to figure out how you want your story to actually read with more intention. This one, I consider the polished writing style.

Most people have a writing style that falls between the innate and polished styles; I know I certainly do. I think the best thing you can do is ask this question to yourself, and then answer it as you go.

Oh, and make sure to check in with yourself every so often - as you grow and change, your writing does, too.

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Tone:

It’s important to establish your writing tone in the first chapter.

A brief definition of this is how you say what you say.

It’s also important to make sure your tone matches up with the genre you’re writing.

▪️Let’s take mystery-thrillerfor instance:

Example:

There was a knock at the door.

Danielle walked down the stairs to answer it.

But when she opened the door, she noticed that no one was there.

That was weird, she thought. 

Vs.

There was a knock at the door.

Danielle crept down the shadowed stairs and the floorboards creaked under her weight, spooking her.

When she made it to the bottom she put her hand on the cold knob and slowly opened the door.

No one was there.

This is scary, she thought.

Often times you can use“adjectives”to set your tones.

Example:

Use these adjectives to set a negative tone

▪️Angry

▪️Annoyed

▪️Hurt

▪️Sad

▪️Anxious

▪️Scary

▪️Sick

▪️Awful

▪️Insane

▪️Bad

▪️Black

▪️Embarrassed

▪️Envious

▪️Lazy

▪️Tense

▪️Blue

▪️Evil

▪️Lonely

▪️Fierce

▪️Mad

▪️Terrifying

▪️Foolish

▪️Mysterious

▪️Timid

▪️Tired

▪️Confused

▪️Frightened

▪️Troubled

▪️Crappy

▪️Nervous

▪️Upset

▪️Crazy

▪️Grieving

▪️Creepy

▪️Grumpy

▪️Weak

▪️Cruel

▪️Outrageous

▪️Weary

Show not tell “Happy”:

▪️Her cheeks glowed pink.

▪️He smiled, his brown eyes sparkling.

▪️She skipped across the room, humming a love song.

▪️He laid down with an amused smile on his face.

▪️Her hands clasped together and she squealed.

▪️She laughed, falling into the chair and holding her stomach.

▪️She jumped to her feet and cheered them on.

▪️She danced around her room, grinning wide.

▪️Her eyes teared with joy at the sight of her missing daughter.

▪️She wiggled her feet in the sheets, a soft sigh on her lips.

▪️Warm goosebumps broke out on her skin as she stared into his wonderful eyes.

▪️She waved her hands from side to side, twirling.

Notice that I’m not describing happy with “happy” synonyms: 

▪️She was ecstatic.

▪️She felt joyful.

▪️She looked cheery.

This is still telling and your readers won’t get the picture you’re trying to paint.

Example:

She felt so cheery and joyful. ✖️

Vs.

Her cheeks hurt from smiling as she skipped from the room, daydreaming and singing a love song. ✔️

Prospective:

Have your readers “walk in your character’s shoes”.

It’s attractive to read about a worse situation than your own. Your annoying neighbor next door or your upcoming doctors’ appointment.

One way you can do this is by putting your characters in tough situations, allow the unimaginable to happen to them.

Ideas:

▪️A character loses leg/legs

▪️A character contracts a rare, uncuriable disease

▪️A character is forbidden to ever marry but is desperately in love

▪️A character watches someone close to them suffer and die

▪️A character accidentally kills someone they love

▪️A character’s life is threatened

▪️A character contracts a psychopathic stalker

▪️A character gets amnesia

▪️A character forgets how to speak

▪️A character that’s a millionaire suddenly goes bankrupt

▪️A character is blackmailed into committing crimes

▪️A character is sentenced to death for saving someone’s life

▪️A character loses their job and can’t find employment

▪️A character goes into a coma for five years and suddenly wakes up

▪️A character is cheated on repeatedly but fights for their partner regardless

▪️A character loses their beauty to a horrible accident

▪️A character goes to a mental ward but they’re perfectly sane and can’t prove it

Escapism:

1. seeking to escape from reality

2. seeking to escape from reality by form of books

▪️your readers want to escape from the worry and unpleasantness of life.

▪️keep this in mind and you’ll write great stories that your readers won’t be able to put down.

This is especially easy if you add suspenseto your book.

How to create suspense:

▪️start scenes and chapters with urgency

Example:

Molly woke up.

She yawned and stretched and moseyed into the kitchen to make her cereal.

She found her favorite kind (cinnamon toast crunch) and poured it into a bowl with milk.

Now, she sat down in front of the window to watch the morning birds pecking the ground.

Let’s say someone is about to break into Molly’s house and kidnap her. Well… your readers will probably never make it to find out because this scene started out with no promise and no urgency what so ever. It’s just a boring morning routine that no one wants to hear.

Let’s try it another way…

Molly woke up with a strange feeling in her gut.

The house was quiet and she remembered that her parents had left on vacation.

Maybe she was just nervous about being alone. Yeah, that was it.

She started breakfast but the feeling wouldn’t leave her so she decided to lock all the windows and bolt the front door.

But the strange feeling persisted.

Suddenly, she remembered that she had forgotten to lock the basement door.

She sat down her bowl of cereal and slowly headed down the dark stairs…

Synonyms for “Looked”:

▪️Heglanced at the girl.

▪️Shegazed at the horizon, unaware of how much time had passed.

▪️Shespotted him in the crowded airport.

▪️Shepeeked through the curtain, giggling.

▪️He saw a glimpse of the cabin through the trees.

▪️Hewatched her car disappear down the road.

▪️Shesurveyed her child’s arm for any scratches.

▪️Shestudied the words on the page.

▪️Hespied the dog in the bushes.

▪️The girl eyed the boy, crossing her arms.

▪️Shechecked her purse to make sure nothing was missing.

▪️His eyes focused on hers, his heart fluttering.

▪️Heinspected her expression, seeing that she was upset.

▪️Hescanned the church building. It was empty.

▪️Sheogled the cake, licking her lips.

▪️Hepeered up at the balcony, seeing her there.

▪️The child squinted at the ocean against the sunlight.

▪️Heviewed the blood on the carpet.

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Describing Setting:

Don’t overload:

The bluebird was singing soft melodies and flapping its wings. The breeze was blowing sweet scents from the flowers that were red, blue, and purple. The sky was clear with only a few thin clouds. The tall dark trees were creaking and echoing against the woods. ✖️

Vs.

The rose-scented wind blew breezes against the forest. Bluebirds sprang into the air with songs of summer. ✔️

Clarity:

She went all the way to the store by the way of a car in which she had just purchased. ✖️

Vs.

She went to the store in a car she had just purchased. ✔️

He very much loved the sounds that the cars made as they made their way passed his house at a very fast pace.✖️

Vs.

He loved the cars’ sounds as they quickly passed his house. ✔️

▪️Avoid run on sentences:

He bought a dog from the shelter because he wanted to give a homeless dog a nice new home and that made him feel like a good person. ✖️

Vs.

He bought a dog from the shelter because he wanted to give a homeless dog a nice new home. This made him feel like a good person.

▪️Cut out “was” when possible:

Courtney was smiling. ✖️

Vs.

Courtney smiled. ✔️

▪️Try using one sentace paragraphs:

She liked how the rain felt on her bare skin.

So, she chose to walk home, her feet crashing through puddles.

It took longer than it would have in a car.

But she didn’t regret it.

▪️Try shorter sentences:

Ann’s heart felt sad.

She didn’t know what had caused it.

All she knew was that she woke up one morning feeling sad.

▪️Be conside:

I like carrots. Carrots are better than broccoli.✖️

Vs.

I like carrots better than broccoli. ✔️

▪️Be Specific:

She ate a snack.✖️

Vs.

She ate peanut butter crackers. ✔️

She went out for entertainment.✖️

Vs.

She went to the theater.✔️

▪️Paint pictures:

The sun was yellow. The sky was blue.✖️

Vs.

The sky was a blanket of gold, fluttering through the pale blue. ✔️

▪️Express don’t impress:

Scintillating gold fulgrated across the sphere it was a quintessential evening.✖️

Vs.

Sparkling gold mixed through the navy sky. It was the perfect evening. ✔️

Spice up your dialogue:

“I can’t,” she said.

Or you could say…

“I can’t,” she said, slowlyand moved away from him.

“Will you come?” He asked.

Or…(adj.)(Action)

“Will you come?” He asked, timidlywith his head down.

Balance your tags like this:

Tags: pink

Adjective: orange

Action: blue

“I’m tired,” Mia said with a yawnand crawled into bed.

Daniel lowered the book he was reading. “It’s too early for sleep.”

Two seconds later, Mia’s snores echoed through the room.

“Oh well.” Hechuckledand turned off the light.

Prompts:

She said, softly and looked down.

She said, timidly stepping away.

She said, robustly and met his eyes.

She said, angrily with a flushed face.

She said, quivering and fell to the ground.

He said, laughing and holding his stomach.

He said, stiffly and turned away.

He said, bitterly and his jaw flared.

Dialogue Tags:

▪️He explained. ✖️

▪️He advised. ✖️

▪️He warned. ✖️

▪️He confirmed. ✖️

▪️He accused. ✖️

▪️He babbled. ✖️

▪️He said.✔️

Although these tags aren’t always bad they can be overused and redundant to the reader.

Let me explain.

▪️“You stole my cookie, Linda!” Roger shouted.

(We already know Roger is accusing Linda and don’t need to say “Roger accused”.

It’s better to keep your tags basic.

▪️He said. ✔️

▪️She said. ✔️

▪️He asked. ✔️

▪️She asked. ✔️

▪️He yelled. ✔️

▪️She yelled. ✔️

But don’t overuse your tags.

“Hello,” Linda said.

“Hello,” Roger said.

“How are you?” Linda asked.

“I’m fine,” Roger replied.

Omit tags when readers can assume who is speaking.

Linda put her arm around Roger. “I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you, too.”

Use action instead of tags.

“I’ll miss you,” Roger cried. ✖️

Vs.

Hot tears swelled in Rogers eyes. “I’ll miss you.” ✔️

Rules to finding your writing style:(writing voice)

▪️don’t copy someone else

▪️stick with one POV (point of view)

▪️play with different styles

▪️keep it natural

▪️edit instead of changing your voice (your writing voice usually isn’t the problem)

▪️try adding more description to your writing

▪️stay consistent

▪️writeevery day

▪️write what you love

Reverse Dictionary

Take advantage of this site, it’s super helpful when looking for similar and different words or phrases. Yes, you can type whole phrases and get alternatives. Way to spice up your creative writing

Hint, click on any word to get its definition.

Reverse Dictionary

Write in the Morning☕️

Obviously, this isn’t feasible for everyone and I totally get it. But here are some benefits:

1. You write better just after a good night’s sleep as your mind is fresh.
2. Less distractions.

Here are some tips to make this happen:

Grab some coffee, tea, whatever you like.

DO NOT check Facebook, email, or jump on any other social media. (You’ll get easily distracted for hours.)

Make a routine. Write at the same time every morning and your body will adjust.

Set an alarm. I like to wake up around 4AM and write for 2-3 hours. (Don’t recommend, but it works for me and that’s just what my body wants to do ‍♀️)

Side note:

Write whenever your schedule allows. I used to write well into the night and made excellent progress on my novels. But now days I’m too tired in the evenings.

Share what works best. If you decide to start a morning routine, I hope these tips help ❤️

Specific Traits

~Hair~

Hair color is fun to describe but it’s not very telling or unique. Two, three, or four characters in your book might have blonde hair. You could easily describe them as having different shades like yellow-blond, white-blonde, and dark blonde. But you can be far more effective if you describe hair characteristics.

Here’s what I mean:

Style- do they wear their hair in a bun, ponytail, or long and wild down their back? Do they straighten it or curl it?

Texture- is it thin and wispy or heavy strands that curl under at the ends? Is it glossy in the light or coarse and dull?

Smell- you can get away with this one as long as you don’t overuse it. For instance, does your character shower with coconut shampoo or wear hair mist from Bath and Body Works?

Use the examples above to broaden your description of hair.

Example:

Kandace’s glossy blonde hair smelled like honeysuckles, reminding me of summer.

Describing Eyes

The eyes are often called the “windows to the soul”. They tell so much about a person. That’s why describing the eyes of your character will give passion and detail about them as well as paint a picture in your readers’ minds.

Here are some words to consider using when describing eyes:

• Dark

• Icy

• Piercing

• Cold

• Hard

• Deep

• Loving

• Passionate

• Severe

• Kind

• Scary

• Confused

• Intense

• Twinkling

Use these even when describing color like: Her deep parrot blue eyes.Or,His intense brown-eyed stare. These are words commonly used when describing eyes and give depth to your descriptions.

Eye Shape:

This is a very visual aspect for your readers to grasp on to. Does the character have squinty eyes or large round eyes? Here are some shapes to consider:

• Round

• Almond-shaped

• Protruding

• Wide

• Downturned

• Deep-set

• Hooded

• Thin

• Upturned

• Big

• Small

You could say: Her round blue eyes glistened.Or,his intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Frequently consider, color, description, and shape. This is a great start, and your readers will love it!

When describing eyes, don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through. Think further than color and shape and consider attaching thoughts and emotions to your description. I’ll show you:

Instead of:

Her round blue eyes glistened.

Try:

Her round blue eyes glistened like they were afraid to cry.

Instead of:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Try:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy. The kind of blue that screamed to be noticed.

Be careful not to get caught up describing one thing and one thing only. If all you ever do is pick a color off the color list then your description will be lacking. Instead, try to use a balance. Not every sentence has to be deep and crazy. Here and there, you can get by with “she had blue eyes” or “his hazel eyes teared up”. That’s fine. Just make sure there’s a balance.

Be unique! Be different! And don’t suppress your beautiful creativity. ❤️

-from my upcoming book “How to Write Charcters”.

(Hehe)

Describe Vs Explain

You’ve probably heard “show don’t tell”. This is another way of phrasing that. And a lot of writers have found that it clicks better. ☺️

Describe don’t explain!

Poetry:

1. Write what movesyou

2. Choose a one-word theme as your guideline

3. Line break (writing in shorter lines)

4. Use metaphors (saying one thing is another)

5. Use similes (comparing one thing to another)

6. Use repetition

7. Write in “pictures” using imagery and figurative language ▪️this can be achieved with similes, metaphors, and the five senses

8. Keep a synonym dictionary handy

9. Keep your topic in mind while writing

10. Avoid clichés (“busy as a bee”)

11. Read poetry. Read poetry. Read poetry. 

12. Paint in bits, never stop the flow to dump information/description

13. Remember, poetry does not have to rhyme!

Dialogue is so so important! If your reader sees that you know what you’re doing, they’re more likely to read your book ☺️ this book is only 4.99 on amazon, link posted below! Happy writing!

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Writing advice you will probably hate:

▪️DO NOT edit until after your work in progress is finished

Reasons:

1. You will quench your creative flow

2. You will get frustrated

3. It will take 10 years to finish your book and you will still hate it.

4. You’ll beat yourself up

5. editing is more productive once your work is finished.

Ways to avoid this:

1. Keep writing and don’t look back

2. Finish from beginning to literally “the end”

3. Remember, becoming a good writer isn’t magically writing everything perfect the first time around. It’s learning to edit. And edit. And edit again.

Don’t worry, you got this!☺️

fictionadventurer:

We writers often categorize ourselves as “plotters” or “pantsers”, based on how much of our story we prefer to outline before we begin writing actual scenes. As I consider my writing process, I’m beginning to think this framework isn’t very useful for describing howI turn my ideas into a full-fledged story. But I think I’ve discovered a more useful way to frame this difference. Instead of “plotter vs. pantser”, consider: are you a deductive storyteller or an inductive storyteller?

Deductive reasoning starts with general premises and draws specific conclusions. In a similar way, deductive storytellers start with general concepts and work their way down to specific details.The Snowflake Method is the purest form of deductive storytelling–you start with the most basic overview, and at each level, you add more details and get more specific, until you wind up with a first draft.

To a deductive storyteller, the overarching framework is necessary in order to develop the small details. For example, if I were writing deductively, I’d decide that Suzie is a brave character, and then write scenes that show Suzie’s bravery. I’d also needs to figure out the steps of the plot before coming up with the details of any specific scene–I’d need to know that Suzie will argue with Dave so I can set up the tension that will lead to that scene. The big picture needs to come first, and any necessary details can be logically drawn from this framework.

In contrast, inductive reasoning starts with specific data and draws general conclusions. Therefore, inductive storytelling starts with specific details of a scene, and from that, draws general conclusions about the characters, plot, and setting. This type of writer aligns more closely with the “pantser” end of the spectrum, and is likely to get more ideas from writing scenes than from writing an outline.

An inductive storyteller needs to write out scenes, and use the small details in the prose to figure out broader facts about the plot, characters, and setting. For example, if I were writing inductively, I might write a scene in which Suzie was the only person in her party to enter a haunted house without hesitation. From this, I’d determine that Suzie was brave, and would use this insight to inform Suzie’s behavior in future scenes.  I’d also use the details of early scenes to figure out the next logical steps of my plot. For example, Suzie and Dave are having tense interactions across multiple scenes, so it’s logical that it will erupt into an argument in the next scene. The small details have to come first, so they can be combined logically to draw larger conclusions about the story.

This framework hasgiven me insight into whyI write the way I do. The “plotter vs. pantser” argument is generally framed as “do you get bored if you know the story beforehand”? But the difference goes much deeper than that–it ties into which method of story building feels more logical to you. I find that detailed outlines often destroy my stories. I might have a plot plan and character sheets that work extremely well in summary form, but I find I can’t use those big pictures to extrapolate the small details I need for a scene–the resulting story feels vague and artificial. It works much better if I write at least a few scenes first–see the characters interacting in their environment–and thendig deeper into what those details tell me about my characters, plot, and setting so I can further develop the story. Other people might find that they can’tcome up with useful details unless they know the larger picture. Neither way is better–it just depends on your preferred storytelling strategy.

Obviously, writers will fall on a spectrum somewhere between these two extremes. But I feel that the “inductive vs. deductive” terminology is a more useful distinction than plain old “plotter vs. pantser”.The important thing isn’t whetheryou outline, but whyan outline may or may not help you create the story you want to tell.