Style

Last week my creative writing tutor told me about something somebody said about style. Unfortunately I can’t remember who said it or the exact wording of it. I’ve googled it and I can’t find it anywhere (so if anyone recognises it and knows who said it please say in the comments) but I know it was something along the lines of this:

Style is our way around everything we cannot do.

And, although I cannot remember the exact wording or who said it, it stuck in my head. Because, when I really thought about it, I realised I agree with this as yet anonymous writer.

I know this is a really controversial thing to say and I’m sure it’s not true of everybody, but for me this statement makes perfect sense. As writers developing style, we try out lots of different styles, we encounter difficulties, we eliminate the kinds of things we as writers find particularly difficult and what is left becomes our style.

Not only did this statement stay with me, I also found it very comforting. I’ve always worried that the fact that I usually write in first person because I find third person difficult, or the fact that I seem to stick to realist stories, meant that I was a bad writer. But that’s not the case. Every writer is different and the fact that we find some ways of writing easier than others does not make us bad writers. It only means that we have found our own distinct style that we feel comfortable writing in and that we’re good at.

Of course, we may still try out new styles as a challenge, for a change, to try and say something different. And I suppose, if we really work at this new style and eventually master it, that will become our style too. Style is a fluid thing. It can change over the years. You can have more than one style.  But if you don’t, if you only have one style and all your stories or poems sound quite similar, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It just means you’ve found what you’re good at.

Like I said, I know this is a controversial thing to say and if you disagree and see style in a very different way, please comment below. I’m really interested to hear what you all think about this. Also, please do comment if you recognise this quote because it’s driving me crazy.

Thanks for reading.