Several different things add up to our particular style of writing. Biggest among them would be the way you talk. Pet phrases and regional slang can say as much about the writer as it can about the character. People from Europe will throw their trash in the 'bin', while Americans would throw it in the 'trash' or in the 'trash can'.
A writer's education and life style can also affect their writing, as big words frequently show up in their conversations and therefore appear in their writing. The hazard of too much regional slang or big complicated words is that you risk narrowing your reader base. I mean, nothing will cause a reader to put a book down faster than if they lose too much meaning as they read, or if they have to refer to a dictionary every other sentence.
The most common sentence in modern usage, the loose sentence begins with the main point (an independent clause), followed by one or more subordinate clauses. Here are two examples of a loose sentence:
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very influential novel, having its self-righteous, virtuous sentimentality, much in common with 'Little Women'. (This is also an example of high education, or high society writing. I wouldn't be reading this book very long. The words are just too big to carry a picture for me)
The cat sat on the mat, purring softly, having licked his paws. (This is a very clear picture)
Something very important to the clarity of your writing style is the use of connotation.
The connotation of a word refers to the special meaning, apart from its dictionary definition. Connotation especially depends on the audience. The word "dog" denotes any animal from the genus canis, but it may lead one reader to think of friendship and another to terror. This partly depends on the reader's personal dealings with dogs. The writer must therefore take care to make sure what kind of dog is in the scene.
Deliberate use of connotation may involve selection of a word to convey more than its dictionary meaning, or substitution of another word that has a different shade of meaning. The many words for dogs have a spectrum of implications regarding the dog's training, obedience, or expected role, and may even make a statement about the social status of its owner ("lap dog" versus "cur"). Even synonyms have different connotations: slender, thin, skinny may each convey different images to the reader's mind. The writer should choose the connotation, positive, negative, or neutral, that supports the mood.
A writer's education and life style can also affect their writing, as big words frequently show up in their conversations and therefore appear in their writing. The hazard of too much regional slang or big complicated words is that you risk narrowing your reader base. I mean, nothing will cause a reader to put a book down faster than if they lose too much meaning as they read, or if they have to refer to a dictionary every other sentence.
The most common sentence in modern usage, the loose sentence begins with the main point (an independent clause), followed by one or more subordinate clauses. Here are two examples of a loose sentence:
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very influential novel, having its self-righteous, virtuous sentimentality, much in common with 'Little Women'. (This is also an example of high education, or high society writing. I wouldn't be reading this book very long. The words are just too big to carry a picture for me)
The cat sat on the mat, purring softly, having licked his paws. (This is a very clear picture)
Something very important to the clarity of your writing style is the use of connotation.
The connotation of a word refers to the special meaning, apart from its dictionary definition. Connotation especially depends on the audience. The word "dog" denotes any animal from the genus canis, but it may lead one reader to think of friendship and another to terror. This partly depends on the reader's personal dealings with dogs. The writer must therefore take care to make sure what kind of dog is in the scene.
Deliberate use of connotation may involve selection of a word to convey more than its dictionary meaning, or substitution of another word that has a different shade of meaning. The many words for dogs have a spectrum of implications regarding the dog's training, obedience, or expected role, and may even make a statement about the social status of its owner ("lap dog" versus "cur"). Even synonyms have different connotations: slender, thin, skinny may each convey different images to the reader's mind. The writer should choose the connotation, positive, negative, or neutral, that supports the mood.