: Re: Does each writer have a unique writing style? I admire the writing style of many other writers and I try to emulate them, but most of the time it doesn't turn out how I want it to. Is

@Lee1909368

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Are There Enough Styles to Go Around?

It is impossible to know if each writer has a unique style. To see if it is possible, I would try to estimate how many writing styles exist, so I need to understand what constitutes a style.

How many factors go into a style? We can list some:

sentence length: short, medium, long, varied, sawtooth up, sawtooth
down
word preference: common, erudite, uneducated, short, long
adjective use: many, few, never, sequences, interminable
adverb use: often, rarely, used in multiples, never, inverted order
passive voice: frequent, rare, never, constantly
sentence fragments: never, occasionally, in dialogue, as exclaimations
sentence run-on: never, when passionate, when bored, often, always
contractions: avoided, used whenever possible, varies with the speaker
Oxford comma: yes, no
scene linkage: focused on setting, focused on character, focused on action
and so on for a very long list.

Like any combinatorics problem, you multiple the number of choices in each attribute. For this short list, we have 6*5*5*5*4*4*5*3*2*3 = 360,000 styles. In short order, we can define more styles that there are people. We have shown that it is possible for each person to have their own style.

But, you asked if each writer does have a unique style, not if it was possible.

We don't know, but I have full faith in the ability of literary critics to draw a line, however thin, between the product of any two writers. A line drawn is a style defined.

Your style comes from you.

If when you read what you write, it doesn't sound like you want it to, don't fret -- rewrite. Write it again. Feel the setting. Listen to the sounds. Share the characters feelings. Write it again. Repeat until it carries the full message you desire.

If may want to shape the writing. Often when writing dialogue, each character has a unique style. Those words should sound like the character speaking. Even with those utterances as if from another mind, the overall piece will still sound like you.

That will be your voice and your style. It will change constantly with changes in you, in your mastery of technique, and with what you are writing about. You will know it is your voice because when you read it the words will fit in your mouth.

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