Writing with Style

In writing, style is equally important as substance. A writing style can reveal both the writer's personality and the writer’s literary voice, as best expressed in its Chinese version - 文如其人 . Earnest Hemingway is best known for his clean prose, short sentences, and simple words, yet his writing conveys the real truths and provokes the deepest thoughts about life and death. When I read Hemingway’s writings, I rarely encountered new vocabulary words, and could often finish reading several sentences with one breath. Whereas Joseph Heller, in his “Catch 22”, used extensive vocabulary, catch phrases, and non-chronological storyline. While reading “Catch 22”, I had to keep a dictionary closeby and try desperately to put the events together, which are presented out of sequence. Yet I enjoy both styles of writing, just like I enjoy different styles of music, food, and many other things in life.

Talking about the writing style, we can take a look at our very own writers among the net potatoes in this forum. We have our seasoned writers like 非文青 , Lilac, and Carpediem and the budding writers like jennea and 九九 . Surfer-diver just came out of his hibernation (or diving), and posted his writing “Random thoughts”. While reading their writings, I can’t help but notice their distinctive styles - Lilac’s playfulness with witty words, 非文青 ’s sharpness and frankness, and Carpediem’s thoughtful revelation and forceful arguments. When I read jennea’s writings, I could not help wondering “Is she a younger version of me” or “I am an older version of her”. Their writing styles are so distinctive that if one of them posts his or her writings with a 馬甲 , I might still be able to guess who the writer might be. Sometimes I imagine myself running into them at a party and singling out the quick-witted 非文青 , the thoughtful Carpediem, the light-hearted Lilac, the bookish jennea, and others among a roomful of party-goers.

To be a good writer, you must develop your own writing style as distinctive as your fingerprints, because it is your way and your voice of telling the world about what you see with your own eyes. Each writer has his or her distinct senses of perceiving the world and distinct relationship with the world. That is why the world of literature is so diverse, rich, and interesting and that is how literature evolves and lives on.