tl;dr — writing with good style means writing with "presence"

The quality of my writing style largely depends on how much patience I have, which, in turn, depends on a host of other factors. I'd love to be able to move somewhere on my own, someplace remote and quiet and close to nature where I can dedicate all twenty-four hours of my day to brainstorming, workshopping, drafting, editing, and experimenting. Sadly, though, I have a life. I have a job and student loans and family responsibilities and I've also been thinking of getting down to finding a boyfriend (but that's a blog post for another time). If I had all twenty-four hours of a day to dedicate to my writing, I'd probably be able to post chapters that showcased my best work.

As it is, though, I haven't been very satisfied with my own style. Which is quite sad, actually. This story I am currently working on ("Autumnal Equinox," some of you may be following it) is one that has been running laps around my brain for literally years. Through its many incarnations, it has seen a variety of idols and original characters in the starring roles, and I have gone over the plot—cutting and adding where I deemed necessary—many, many times, so it's a project that is very near and dear to my heart.

But as I'm nearing the end of the writing journey (the drafting part, at least), I find myself confronting the familiar temptation to rush to the end. Putting out my best work suddenly comes in second to being able to tick the "completed" box on the story's description page. The result, I end up sacrificing style for timely updates. If you're one of my readers, don't feel bad. I'm used to "update soon!" comments, so they don't really faze me anymore (though I appreciate all comments regardless). 

This got me thinking about an essay I once read in my Rhetorical Arts class back in my freshman year of college. So I did some digging around in my room, and I found my old textbook. It was called "Style: The Hidden Agenda in Composition Classes, or One Reader's Confession," by Kate Ronald, Professor in English at Miami University. 

It's a bit of a hefty read, so I will summarize it for you:

Over the years, the way we teach writing has changed, and one of the ways it has changed is that the focus of composition courses has shifted from content to style and back and forth. Normally, Kate Ronald tells her students that what they say is more important than how they say it, the style doesn't matter. But then she confesses that this isn't entirely true. Style actually does matter a little bit.

But what do we mean by style? Fancy diction and clever turns of phrase? Impeccable grammar and decisive punctuation? While these things are important, Ronald has a different idea of style, and especially of good and bad style. One that I have tried to stick to in the years after I read her essay. 

In simplest terms, writing with good style means writing with earnestness. It means being "present" in your writing. When someone reads your works, they should be able to sense that there actually is someone who is saying these things, that there is a real person who lives behind the words. 

The way I understand this is: communicate your story, don't just tell it. And I believe I've been falling short of this as of late. My fault, really. I say I've been thinking about this story for a very long time, but sometimes it's not until you start drafting that you realize that you should have planned some more, and this is what I've been going through. I had a clear vision of the story I wanted to communicate up to about chapter 6 or 7 or so. After that, I realized that my vision got kind of hazy. I could see shapes and had some vague ideas about how I wanted to proceed, but nothing concrete. 

But I had myself on a schedule, and I was afraid that if I didn't update soon, I would lose momentum and interest, and then I would have to shelve the story. I didn't want to do that. So I rushed the last couple of chapters, and in doing so, I wasn't able to put my best writing style forward. Kate Ronald says that good style gives the reader that sense that "someone is home," and I wasn't at home in my writing. 

Of course, though, even when you can't write well or when it's hard, you should still do it. For practice. But that, again, is probably another reflection blog for another time.