Amplify Your Style: Taking Your Tone and Language to the Next Level

Classic, Genre, Popular

When I started writing, the style and tone I was aware of were all coming from the novels of Thomas Hardy, which, to my knowledge, were the bestsellers of their time. Then, there was Ayn Rand who often made me run to a corner and sit so I could finish reading her novel. After that, I read all the Ludlum spy thrillers out there while consuming plenty of cheeky and hot romances. By the time of my first submission, short story anthologies have become my biggest reads. I fell for the short story which captures everything all at once. The master storytellers in those master story collections taught me that the words they choose, the sequence of their sentences, and even the order of paragraphs impact the overall tone and style of their writing.

How can you amplify your style and take your tone a notch higher? Of course, it will take more than memorizing tips and techniques in writing to build your confidence in this matter. Nevertheless, it's a good discipline to replace your writing hat with that editor hat so you can pick on how you may sound so far, at least to the first reader-your editor.

1. Did you choose your words discriminately?

Writing with style is selecting the right words. This means not merely using common, everyday language, but making sure that the word choices are most appropriate. Choosing the best word is work that discriminates against general and bland expressions. Your meaning through the tone of your writing is more emphatic with vivid vocabulary. Your writing is more engaging with the right choice of words.

How about words like "excellent," "outstanding," or "remarkable" instead of simply saying 'cool,' 'nice' or 'good?' The word "bad," is unsatisfactory if what you mean is "terrible," "awful," or "dreadful." Choosing the correct word combinations in fragments and phrases is also crucial in delivering the overall tone and style of your writing.

2. Did you pay attention to sentence structure?

The way you structure your sentences is like how you talk as reflected in your writing style. How you vary the length and rhythm of your sentences indicates cadence shifts that mimic breath itself. This, in turn, gives depth and complexity to your writing, making it hard to put down.

Short, punchy sentences. Longer, more descriptive ones. Keep a natural flow and rhythm in your writing consistent with how you deliver your gestures. Ask, exclaim, and declare as you would according to your flair and personality. This is what will distinguish your writing.

3. Did you craft well-organized paragraphs?

The order in which you present your ideas should follow the rule of one. One sentence, one idea, one paragraph, one main idea. One writing piece, one thesis, or one argument. The flow and coherence of your writing should ensure a logical progression from one idea to the next. Even a style of writing deliberately confusing its readers to illuminate a point reveals a navigation route in the structure.

The classical paragraph has a main idea, supporting details, and examples to strengthen the argument. A quick check on whether or not a paragraph is well-developed: Is it a cause-and-effect progression? Is it the correct sequence of objects in a spatial span? Is it a succession of matter in a hierarchy? Is it a series of events in a time continuum? Is it discriminated listing? Logical progression need not always be linear, however for the readers, the tone is made clear through well-crafted paragraphs.

4. Did you use descriptive language?

What descriptive language means to your writing is what a masterpiece means to an art patron. Every element in that artwork is alive and difficult to ignore. More than giving information, it offers illumination that enables lookers to see beyond the image and onto the intended meaning. How you will capture details in your writing, how you will describe your perceptions, and how you will use language in your writing must engage the senses and impact memory.

Writing is more than putting grammatically correct sentences together. A daunting but fulfilling task of language in writing is how to evoke an emotion or an atmosphere. You risk misconception and misreading if your description is lacking.

5. Did you make yourself present and out there?

Insert your personality in the crafting of a language that your heart is well aware. No writer can be shy although many are introverts. This seems ironic, but writers must also exhibit themselves – that is, their past, present, out-there, selves. Unique writing is almost always confession—who you are, who you prefer to be with, what activities you often engage in, your flaws, your sins, your successes, where you hide, how you escape—it’s You.

This is referred to as that personal touch, that relatable, authentic beat. You will mostly connect with your readers and keep them reading if you can get them aboard the adventure of discovering another human being. Writing is an extension of oneself – a way to reach out and touch an Other who will eventually become curious and ready to shake your hand.

Conclusion

Amplifying your style and taking your tone a notch higher is all about writing with a disciplined crafting of word choices, sentence structure, paragraph organization, and personal information into your writing. Every writing task is a work out of these elements.

When I sit down to write, I remember my mentor who taught me to read manuscripts. She would always write over red-underlined segments, “choose the best word” “pay attention to the sentence structure…,” “craft well-organized paragraphs…,” “use descriptive language,” and “inject your personality”. They seem cliché to me now, but they remain applicable to everything you write if you want an audience to listen to what you have to say, and read your writing to the last page.

Frequently asked questions

What can I submit for review?

If you have a final draft of your work, submit a two-page summary of your manuscript. The summary must include an abstract of your subject matter, a prospective reader, and a short information about yourself. Include a table of contents. Your summary must indicate the total number of words or pages of your final draft. On the second page, indicate your sources, readings, and other related literature.

What is the difference between an offer to collaborate and an offer to do an exhaustive review?

Our team encourages the publication of books under the PAWR1 imprint. If your manuscript is a memoir, we will eagerly consider working with you on the development of your manuscript.

What can I expect after my submission?

You will hear from us within two weeks after your date of submission. We may send you an invitation for collaboration once we have read your summary. We may ask you to send us the whole manuscript for a more exhaustive review.

What else is offered aside from the above?

For manuscripts that have been finalized, you may also opt to enroll in our PAWR1 one-on-one workshop. This workshop aims to guide you on a ten-hour systematic editing and rewriting of your draft. You may only enroll in this workshop if you have a final manuscript ready for review.

What is involved in a collaboration?

If you accept our invitation to collaborate, we will offer to work with you toward the publication of your manuscript under our imprint. The collaboration will entail a shared costing of some or all processes of production.

What is PAWR1 and how do I enroll?

For information on this one-on-one workshop, please go to Page-a-Writer.com and indicate your information on the contact form. Thank you for getting in touch.