Writing and style.

[foxmonkey]

I've wondered about this one a lot over the years. Today's question:

Style. Are there writers you can pick out by style alone? If so, what is it that you recognize? If you're a writer, is having a recognizable style important to you? Why or why not?

Comments

[worldwouldend.livejournal.com]

I think there are definitely writers with a distinct/recognizable style. It's sort of like hearing a song on the radio for the first time and immediately knowing what band is singing it.

There are big things like a preference for a certain tense/pov, for lots of dialogue or none at all. Then there are subtler things like...length of paragraph or sentence. Punctuation choices (semicolon or ellipse usage/abuse). And things that are hard to define like cadence or rhythm of the words themselves. Some writing feels...quiet, calming; some is loud. For example, I always want to describe scot_ty's fics as quiet, though I'm not sure why.

If I really like a writer's style and it's consistent across works then I can be comfortable knowing I will most likely enjoy the next piece. But sometimes it's cool to find out they're capable of changing it up, too.

...And that's enough babbling from me. :)

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

I always want to describe scot_ty's fics as quiet, though I'm not sure why.

I am pleased and amazed, because I didn't think anyone else used quiet to describe fic. ::boggles:: Also funny, because I've told her that myself. :-)

I love hearing what people think on the subject of writing, so thanks for your comments! And please, if there's more, babble away!

[worldwouldend.livejournal.com]

I saw what you said below about stories sort of blending/blurring into one another. I think this has a lot to do with writers influencing each other and fandom merging into some characterization/style consensus. I don't know why this happens exactly, but it's also how we end up with so much "fanon," right? It's always very interesting to me to jump to a different fandom and see how the general writing style immediately changes. This seems especially true for fandoms that aren't so LJ-based; I find those writers often go for a more straightforward storytelling with perhaps less stylistic/grammatical finesse or trickery.

I don't know what any of that means, though!

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

I think this has a lot to do with writers influencing each other and fandom merging into some characterization/style consensus.

Characterization/style consensus, absolutely! That's exactly what I'd been thinking about, that the trap of fanon characterization has certainly caught its fair share of victims. Not that the fic is bad, but...it's just kind of sad not to be able to tell who wrote what.