Does the perfect writing style exist?

[Review originally published in Italian. English translation made by atypical-stranger, with the revision of JoSeBach.]

Absolutely not.

One thing you will quickly notice is the existence of a double standard: when you are famous writer, your style is “elegant”, however, if you are an unknown one, your text is “heavy”; popular authors write in an “essential” style, the budding writer is “meagre”; the famous author is “cryptic and ambiguous”, the emerging one “is not clear enough”.

If you check guides, manuals and more, they will tell you to write in a certain way and take famous and relatively recent authors for reference.
But what if a manual tells you to write in a basic style and many renowned authors wrote with lots of details? For example, think of George R. R. Martin, famous all over the world, and his style is full of evocative rhetorical figures.

It means that, excluding grammar rules, it is right to write the way you like best, unless you aim to publish with a specific publisher. In that case manuals are fundamental; you should really study/participate in the courses of its writers/publishers.

I’m going to take this opportunity to give you some general advice. There are so many elements to take into consideration, but in order not to mess it up I will only list those that I consider most important:

– In order to do an immersive writing, you must avoid perceptual verbs. Do not write “Paul heard a window slam violently”, but use “a window slammed violently” instead. Although, at first glance, it may seem odd, the first example is tell, the second is show. Another example: compared to “Every time the clock strikes, I feel like a blade is twisting in my flesh”, the sentence “Every stroke is a blade that twists in my flesh” is a lot more immediate;

– Be careful with adverbs: every now and then they can fit, but these are also a tell. Do not write “shouted loudly”, write “the scream made the room tremble”;

– when you build a sentence in the narration, avoid or refrain from using these words: now (which you can use in direct speech), then (the scene must not be just a series of actions, but if you accidentally slip it in sometimes nobody is going to eat you), they replied (if they answer, it goes without saying), “the fact that” (makes the scene needlessly long winded);

– Don’t say what the character is not. Focus on what they are. For example, if you were to say “She wasn’t like any other girl,” you’re saying very little. I have to admit that sometimes saying what a character is not can lead to an interesting speech: like “It is not a dog, it is not a wolf, I know only what it is not”, is how the husky Balto is described. This means that the character is looking for their own personal identity. You can write a character who is a hybrid and, because of it, they have identity crisis (like Tanis Half-elven), who is the son of two different species, who has sworn allegiance to two lords, etcetera.

But do not forget that normally “Half-elven” refers to a creature half elf, but half man? Those who have read Game of Thrones or Dragons of Winter Night know that it indicates someone considered incomplete.

In conclusion, listen to these advice but, if you do not like a style, do not follow its rules. Soon, you will compulsively search for mistakes, lose sight of your real goals and write exclusively to be published. Acting this way will only lead you to lose your passion.

Someone will object, saying that writers get paid for writing, and hence one can make this one sacrifice.

Well… we talk about it in this article!

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