We’re busy here at Frazz HQ, as we prepare Issue 4 for launch in the New Year, so this post will be brief. I hope you’ll forgive me for rambling a bit, but I ‘m writing this on the go.
There’s little fickler than fashion. We all know this. That snug pullover you bought last year, and hope to renew this winter? Forget it, it’s history, and the stores have moved on to this season’s style.
Likewise, the publishing industry goes through fads. Anyone for:
Gone Girl On The Train In The Window Who Had A Tattoo And Kicked The…
You know what I mean, and I’m not criticising the books or writers I’m hinting at, just pointing out that there was a fashion, not so very long ago, for novels with Girl in the title.
What doesn’t tend to change a whole lot is an author’s individual style - the writer’s voice as opposed to the voices of their characters. Think of it as a creative fingerprint, the identifying mark that this work is theirs, and theirs alone. Others might be inspired by it, and may even try to copy it, but they too will find that something of themselves leaks into the process, and the end result will be very much in their own personal style, and not that of the author they’re drawing from.
That is not to say that a writer’s style is static. No, it evolves and grows over the course of their career, sometimes as a result of changes in the writer’s life or internal make-up. Writers can even reinvent themselves, and adopt a whole new writing persona, but even then, I believe the basic fingerprint will remain, and will make their work identifiable, so that even without knowing the writer’s name, we will recognise their work.
I like to think of my own style as being rhythmic and lyrical, a little hard-edged, and impactful. The language and tone of a piece, be it a short story or a novel, is important to me, and I try to write it so that it sings to the reader, and that every beat of a sentence lands perfectly with them. Hence, I take care to craft every sentence to achieve the desired result.
But I didn’t start out writing in this way.
My style evolved through a process of failure, and I wrote a lot of poor stories to get to where I am now. Which is perfectly fine, because there is no greater teacher than failure. And I still fail, and will continue to do so as I evolve. What’s important is being willing to risk failure, and not being hard on myself when a piece doesn’t work.
I should clarify; by failure, I mean in my personal judgement rather than by any external measure. Does the piece work for me, and does it achieve the desired result? Does it need more work, or is it something that, at a certain point, is unsalvageable?
In truth, though, there is no such thing as failure in writing, because it is the doing of it, the taking of the risk, which counts.
Write a lot, read a lot; this is how we become good, and better, writers. Playing with form, language, experimenting with our writing, is how we develop our style.
Yes, it can be frustrating at times, and sure, there are disappointments, but the actual writing, the crafting of a perfect sentence and a wonderful story, knowing we got it right and that as time goes on, we get it right more often than not… that’s the buzz, the tonic, the pure magic of being a writer.
So play with style.
Be influenced by the work you read, but ignore the trends.
Experiment and have fun.
Be true to yourself.
And let the you-ness of you sing through in every word, because you, just as you are now, is more than enough.