The secret sauce: style & language

The secret sauce to your story sandwich: Style

Style and language are key elements in enhancing the impact of your story and capturing the attention of your audience. In this lesson, we explore how you can use style and language to bring your story to life and create a memorable experience for your readers—or listeners.

Style refers to the way you choose to dress your story. Style is more about how you say things, not about what you say it. It includes elements such as tone, word choice, and sentence structure. For fiction, the style you adopt should be aligned with the genre, mood, and message of your story. It should also show your unique, personal style—the reason someone buys your books.

For non-fiction, the style should adapt to your client's style and tone guidelines. Hopefully, they have them!

For example, a horror story would require a dark and mysterious tone, while a comedy would call for a lighthearted and humorous tone.

Authors that have a very unique and identifiable style are:

• Khalid Hosseini
• Heather Morris
• Mark Sullivan

Brands that have a strong and unique style are:

• MailChimp
• Chameleon
• DSLX

Don't be afraid to experiment with different styles to find the one that best fits your personality, genre, or topic, and resonates with your readers.

• In business writing: Some clients' style and tone of voice are so strong and unique that you won't be able to let your own personal style shine through as much. However, some clients have more lenient guidelines that leave room for your unique you.
• In fiction writing: One of the best ways to ensure you're staying true to your author’s voice is to find Beta Readers. Beta readers are often fans of your previous work, they know how you write, and how you speak. They can identify if a text was written by you at your best, or if it feels off for you.

Remember: Beta readers in fiction are not your editors. Beta readers read your story for the love of the story and your writing. Deliver each chapter to them as soon as you have it and ask for qualitative feedback on it.

Some questions to ask your fiction Beta readers are:

• Does this feel like a piece by me?
• Did the plot pan out as you had expected?
• How do you feel about what happened?
• Can you relate to the story’s hero?
• Would you have liked to have seen another resolution?

Questions like this can ensure your fictional story stays true to you as a storyteller, and you’re not losing sight of your unique style in an effort to hit deadlines or appease an audience. Beta readers are key to any storyteller’s success.

For non-fiction writers: If you’re writing for brands, then your equivalent of a Beta reader is a peer reviewer. Remember, these people are not your editors. A peer reviewer is often a colleague or fellow writer who has known you and your style for a while. They can read your piece and help you ensure you’re staying true to yourself.

The Secret Sauce to Your Story Sandwich: Language

Language, on the other hand, refers to the actual words you use to convey your story. The language you choose should be vivid, descriptive, and engaging.

For example, instead of simply stating that "the sun was shining," you can say "the sun slathered the landscape in a golden glow, casting long shadows across the field."

By choosing specific and descriptive words, you can paint a more vivid picture in the minds of your audience—remember being vivid doesn't mean being cliché, pick vocabulary that hasn't been done to death!

Also, consider the pace and rhythm of your language. Short, sharp sentences can create tension and excitement, while longer, flowing sentences can evoke a sense of tranquility or reflection.

Let's look at a few language tactics that will help your writing pack a special punch:

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1) Alliteration

Alliteration is when a series of words start with the same letter. It's commonly used in poetry, however, when it comes to storytelling it can help generate rhythm and pace to your sentence.

For example: He's barely breathing but still biting.

2) Allusion

Allusions rely on other popular works or pop culture simply by using a phrase or expression. They can help you generate a particular feeling in your reader without needing to go into detail.

Mentioning Scrooge, an Achilles heel, Pandora’s box, or The Grinch, are all examples of allusions.

3) Colloquialism

Colloquialisms build authenticity, using slang or informal language typical of a particular person or geo-location. They enable your readers to understand a character better and bring a character to life. Be cautious of over-using them to the point that they become annoying or cliche.

4) Cliffhangers

When a story pauses in a moment of suspense to leave your reader wanting more.

What’s good to keep in mind for cliffhangers is that they can help progress your non-fiction work too. When you end each section on a cliffhanger, teasing your readers on what’s to come, they’re more inclined to continue reading, get to the bottom of your article, and hit that all-important CTA.

5) Exposition  

Exposition reveals background information on your hero that is not relevant to the development of your plot but helps your reader understand why they react a certain way.

Exposition doesn’t mean you need to break the 4th wall and jump in with a dialogue to explain a certain experience from your hero’s past. There are smarter ways to “expose” your hero’s past—try to thread them in subtly.

6) Metaphors & Similes

Metaphors and similes are some of the most effective language techniques you can use in storytelling. A metaphor directly compares two different things and claims one is the other.

For example, Barbara is Bambi on ice.

Whereas a simile compares two things as one being like the other.

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For example, Barbara is like Bambi on ice.

Or, Barbara is as clumsy as Bambi on ice.

Extended metaphors and similes are themed comparisons that run throughout your entire story, and not just in one moment. They're great for enabling readers to relate.

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7) Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is the storyteller's way of suggesting what’s to come; remember those easter eggs mentioned in an earlier class? This is foreshadowing, or even foreboding, which gives the sense of something negative to come. Foreshadowing and foreboding raise suspicions and can help create a tone for your story. They also encourage people to keep reading.

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8) In Medias Res

In Media Res derives from Latin and means to open in the middle of the action—this doesn't need to be fact-paced action but more that you dive into the story already in swing and the reader plays catch-up. Much like we learned with how to build strong beginnings to stories, you can use this writing tactic to continue exciting your reader with each chapter.

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9) Motifs

A Motif can be an object, symbol, expression, word, or even person, that’s a recurring appearance in a story and holds weight and meaning.

If we use Golden Boy as an example, Aiden’s rattle is a motif, as is the color gold.

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10) Symbolism

Objects or animals that represent something beyond themselves. These are great to help with foreshadowing in your stories.

For example, in Golden Boy, when Barbara starts to hear Aiden’s rattle, the reader knows that Barbara is about to lose touch with reality as she grieves her lost son.

11) Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a powerful literary technique that places two opposite words alongside each other to help describe something. One I’m sure you’re familiar with is bittersweet, or passive-agressive. These can powerfully help you describe a situation or feeling.‍

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12) Onomatopoeia

Zoom, Moo, Crack, Whoosh. Onomatopoeia is one of the hardest to spell and the funnest to do. It’s using words that sound like their action. It’s a great way to heighten the impact of your story’s events.

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‍13) Personification

This is another truly powerful technique that can help to heighten the dramatic impact of your story and bring an object or place to life.

For example, “the tree branches reached forward and tapped at my window.” Here, we’re personifying the tree, giving it human characteristics.

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14) Repetition

You’ll likely know what repetition is but don’t underestimate its power. In non-fiction, repetition is great for driving your point home. In fiction, it’s a tool to help you make an impact and leave your reader to remember your story for years to come.

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15) Vignette

A vignette is a moment in your story where you zoom in on a character or place, and describe it in micro-detail. This technique is used a lot in Where the Crawdads Sing. When it comes to non-fiction it’s essentially a “top tip” or something to that effect.

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‍16) Tautology

Tautology is often assumed to be a negative thing, especially in non-fiction. It’s when you use two words or expressions that mean the same thing alongside each other.

We do this as it sounds natural, but when it comes to non-fiction it’s just unnecessary.

For example: "first and foremost", or "In my opinion, I think". Respect your reader’s time and cut it out.

However, when it comes to fiction, tautology is a technique to help heighten the impact of a situation or event. It can be an effective language technique as long as you don’t overuse it.

For example, “you tiny, little thing.” or “her smile stretched from ear to ear, as wide as her face.”
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17) Zoomorphism

This is a great one to heighten the actions of your characters. Zoomorphism is when animal traits are given to humans or objects.

For example, “the young girl hissed at me and clawed at my face.”‍

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Whoo, that was a lot! That's a wrap. The main takeaway from this lesson is to understand that style and language are mouldable things that go beyond your message. It's not always what you say, but the way you say it that's your secret sauce!