The writer’s style is also expressed by the choice of literary techniques the writer uses to construct the story, such as imagery, symbolism, personification, irony, metaphor, and symbolism. What do the characters say? How do the characters say it? When reading passages of dialogue, the reader needs to consider how the characters’ remarks reflect or accentuate the writer’s voice. Much of what the writer says is based on personal experience, values, biases, and prejudices. The dialogue a writer uses reveals a lot about each character, including the background and education of the character, his or her motivations, and what each character ultimately believes about the world. Does the writer go into great depth? Or does the writer use summary narrative or sparse prose?Īnd the fiction writer’s style is revealed by the content of dialogue. Does the writer use short or long sentences? Sentence fragments? Periodic or cumulative sentences? Simple or complex sentences? For instance, Cormac McCarthy, in The Road, uses many sentence fragments to tell his story.Īnother way that the writer reveals his/her style is by the amount of detail presented to the reader. The writer’s style comes from the types of sentence structure/syntax he/she uses. Does the writer use simple language or complex language? Is the language concrete or abstract? What does a word connote? What does the word denote? The writer’s style comes from the diction or word choice he/she uses. The writer’s style is based on many choices about diction, syntax/sentence structure, detail, dialogue, literary devices, and rhythm. Philip Roth uses a humorous tone in Portnoy’s Complaint.Įvery fiction writer has a unique style. The writer’s tone assists in creating a mood or atmosphere for the story. Tone, on the other hand, refers to the writer’s attitude toward his/her story and to the reader. In fiction writing, the writer’s style is also created by the choice of literary devices that are used to create the story, such as imagery, symbolism, allegory, personification, and other figurative language. He also referred to the main characters as “the boy” and “the man”.

Cormac McCarthy, in The Road, used many sentence fragments and everyday language. George Orwell, on the other hand, used long sentences, including periodic and cumulative sentence types, and more complex diction. For example, Hemingway wrote very short sentences and he used simple words. Style refers to the writer’s choice of diction, sentence structure, literary techniques, and use of rhythm. The writer uses a certain style and tone to craft the story.

Elements of fiction story