In plain English
What is writing style, and how do you improve it?
The Simple Answer
Writing style is the way you say something, as opposed to what you say. It comes from your word choices, the length and shape of your sentences, and your tone. You improve it by writing plainly, cutting extra words, and reading your work out loud.
Two people can write about the same fact and sound nothing alike. One writes short sentences and everyday words. The other writes long, formal ones. Neither is wrong. They have different styles, and the right style depends on who is reading.
What makes up a writing style
- Word choice: plain words ("use") or formal ones ("utilize"), common words or technical terms.
- Sentence length and shape: short and direct, long and layered, or a mix.
- Tone: friendly, serious, playful or neutral.
- Voice: whether the writing sounds like a real person, and whether the subject does the action ("the board reviewed the report") or receives it ("the report was reviewed by the board").
- Rhythm: how the sentences sound one after another, which you can hear when you read them aloud.
Style is not the same as grammar
Grammar and punctuation are the rules of the language. A sentence is either correct or it is not. Style is what you do inside those rules. "I can't come" and "I cannot come" are both correct. One sounds relaxed and the other sounds more formal. That is a style choice.
A before-and-after example
Here is a sentence that is grammatically fine but hard to read, followed by a clearer version that says the same thing.
The same message in two styles
Before (34 words): The report that was written by the committee was reviewed by the board, and it was decided by them that the proposal would be delayed until a decision could be made about the budget.
After (15 words): The board reviewed the committee's report and delayed the proposal until it settles the budget.
What changed: the passive phrases became active ones, the repeated "was" and "by" went away, and the two clauses became one sentence. The meaning stayed the same.
The second version is less than half as long, and a reader gets the point on the first pass. Short is not always better, but unneeded words make a reader work harder for nothing.
Six habits that improve your style
- Know your reader. A note to a friend, a school essay and a work email each call for a different tone. Decide who is reading before you write.
- Prefer plain words. Use "buy" instead of "purchase" and "start" instead of "commence", unless the longer word says something the short one cannot.
- Cut extra words. Look for phrases such as "in order to" (use "to") and "due to the fact that" (use "because").
- Mix your sentence lengths. A string of long sentences tires the reader, and a string of very short ones sounds choppy. A short sentence after a long one adds emphasis.
- Use the active voice most of the time. It is usually clearer and shorter. The passive is fine when the person doing the action does not matter or is not known.
- Read it out loud. If you stumble, run out of breath, or lose the thread, the reader will too. Fix that sentence.
Finding your own voice
A style is not something you put on. It grows from what you read and how much you write. Read writers you enjoy and notice what they do: how they open, how long their sentences run, where they use a short one. Then write often and edit your drafts. Most improvement happens in the second draft, when you cut and reword.
It also helps to wait. Leave a draft for a few hours or overnight, then read it again. Extra words and unclear sentences are much easier to see when the text is no longer fresh in your mind.
A quick way to check your own sentences
Paste a paragraph into the Word Counter to see how many words and sentences it has. Divide the words by the sentences to get your average sentence length. If it is high and every sentence is long, try splitting one or two. If every sentence is very short, try joining a pair.
Word Counter: Count the words and sentences in your draft, and see how long your sentences run on average.