Style is the way you express your thoughts through language. It is also a characteristic of a particular person, a particular period, a school, or a nation. In writing, a style should be unique and distinguishable from other writers’ styles. The purpose of writing is to convey your thoughts to the reader.
Styles evolve over time in response to cultural and technological changes. For example, early writing styles were very different from the styles we see today. In the early ages, there were long, page-long paragraphs, and the style of writing was different. But as technology progressed, these styles evolved, giving way to shorter sentences, embedded hyperlinks, and videos. Some of these changes are directly related to new technologies.
Writing in a particular style has many different aspects, but there are four main elements to any style. A writer’s voice, tone, diction, and punctuation make up the style of their piece. Voice is the author’s personality, based on their background, experiences, and culture. When used correctly, these elements can create an impression or convey a feeling.
Style is an essential characteristic of any piece of writing. It not only makes a piece unique, but it also determines whether a reader will enjoy it or not. Without style, a writer’s writing would be bland and boring. Every decision a writer makes will affect how a reader will interpret their writing.
The first key characteristic of personal Style is its unapologetic individuality. This means that it involves risk and getting it wrong. While fashion is all about what’s popular now, personal style is more about developing a preference. This personal preference can be influenced by fashion trends, but it is very personal. It can span eras and moods.
The second key to successful style implementation is consistency. Styles minimize the amount of features a writer needs to manually adjust. With a single attribute, a stylesheet can be easily applied to any element of a document. Once applied, a change will be applied to all elements of a document. By extension, this can be advantageous if the document is being viewed by many different people.
A stylebook can help a writer create a consistent and cohesive piece of writing. Without consistency, readers may become confused, and this can be a major cause of reader frustration. Style guidelines can help a writer impress their audience and make the difference between a success and a failure. If you want to improve your writing skills, it is essential to follow a style guidebook.
Changes to a style affect every instance of it throughout a document. In the example below, a change to the Normal style makes all the paragraphs in a document change. To change a style, click the New Style button in the Styles task pane. A text formatting dialog box will open.