Style is the man

Our literature guru - A. M. G. Sirimanne - always used to tell us things like: “Develop your style. Don’t follow somebody else’s style. Your style is unique. Your style says who you are.”

However, I was curious to find out what the word “style” meant. Was it the way of writing, using idioms, phrases and clauses? I was clueless. I pressed him to explain the meaning of style. He smiled and recommended some books to read. In essence, he wanted me to find the meaning of “style” by myself.

Being a young undergrad I was angry with my teacher. Why didn’t he explain the word “style?” Why did he ask me to find the meaning by myself? I grew angrier and angrier.

Years later, in my adult life, I found that style was a sign of personal qualities evident in a person’s writing. In other words, a man who does not bother to write has no style. However, if you write something, you have some style. I am reminded of what J. A. Symonds once said, “Whatever a man utters from his heart or head is the index of his character.”

If we apply this principle, a dictator’s style of writing is dictatorial. His language will be forceful and authoritative. However, if a hermit writes something, his style would be somewhat different. His style will be compassionate above everything else. But we are not dictators or hermits. We are ordinary human beings who write for pleasure or profit.

Literary experts say that even the humblest man has a style. Then somebody can ask whether style means the manner of expression. In a way, style reveals the writer’s personality.

This reminds me of a recent incident.A regular reader of this column phoned me to say that she had missed two of my contributions as she was in hospital. She asked me whether I could send her photocopies of the articles. I obliged. After a couple of days she rang me to say, “I haven’t seen you, but I can imagine who you are.” I really do not know whether I have revealed some aspects of my personality through my style.

Can’t a writer pretend to be somebody else? The experts, however, say that your style is intimately connected with what you write. That means, you cannot fake style. In other words, it is impossible for anyone to hide their inborn qualities when writing. For instance, nobody else can imitate the style of Shakespeare or D. H. Lawrence. So we have to agree with the French epigram “Le style c’est l’homme” (style is the man).

Different writers have developed different styles. Sometimes a character in a novel may not contain the qualities of the author. However, the author shapes the characters with his own masks. So, different authors have different perspectives.

Then how do we judge the author’s temperament from his style? This is mostly done through the choice of words, phrases, clauses and ideas. Some authors appear to be analytical, others are scientific or poetic. One writer uses a lot of images. The other makes formal propositions.

This is quite understandable because an author who has seen the world will adopt an expansive style but a cub reporter will not have that range.Visiting Taj Mahal, the 17th century mausoleum in Agra, India, some years ago, my friends started clicking their cameras from different angles.

A few others started questioning the guide. Meanwhile, I tried to visualize how Taj Mahal came to be built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife. If I were to write an essay on Taj Mahal, I would write a reflective essay that would contain the colours, sound, light and form from the days gone by. Even today Taj Mahal haunts my memory.

Your style expresses your accumulated knowledge on different subjects. In addition, it will also reflect your inborn qualities. As a result, a writer who is exposed to many fields of studies will have a better style than a school leaver who writes an essay.

In the days of yore it was thought that if a man writes high sounding big words he was a good writer. Today, if you do so, you become a bombastic writer. Reputed authors today write short sentences using simple words.

Beginners have a herculean task when they try to become writers. At first they write sentences but fail to put them into a coherent paragraph. On the other hand, those who write long chapters find it difficult to compile a book. Meanwhile, some writers pay extra attention to punctuation marks while others simply ignore them.

When we read a poorly punctuated paragraph or sentence, an incompetent writer is at work. One who has no regard for punctuation marks has no sense of values.

An aspiring writer who tries to imitate R.L. Stevenson or Arthur Miller is bound to fail. Those who try to imitate the style of leading authors will be producing some kind of parody not literature.

Your literary style gets polished with your sentiments, habits and observations of human life. Except in scientific writing which is terse, we see the author’s temperament in his style. A literary man is like an artist who will product something beautiful to read. His style speaks volumes of his subtle feelings and sensibilities.

Some authors are gifted artists and sculptors. For instance, Michelangelo was well known as a sculptor. But he was also a sonneteer. If you understand his sonnets, you understand his sculpture. Similarly, William Blake was both a poet and a draughtsman. There were common features in his poetry and draughtsmanship.

Your style plays a major role when you write to a newspaper or magazine. Those who have had no experience as journalists may think that editors are hard-nosed people who treat writing as if were a laxative: that is, you do not buy it unless you need it. This may be partly true because editors are difficult to please with a poor style. When they read the first paragraph of your article, your style reveals who you are.

Before joining a national newspaper as a full-timer, I had to go through the mill to satisfy editors. Gradually I learnt that editors are human beings first and editors second. They will publish your ‘precious’ article based on their professional needs. When an editor gets a story he will ask himself two questions: Is this readable? Is it worth publishing?

If you write your article in a readable style, the chances are that it will be published. When you keep on writing to a particular editor regularly, he will get used to your style. Sometimes, you will get a gut feeling that what you are offering is not quite right for his newspaper. On such occasions do not send it to him.

Also remember that editors are not willing to read misspelled words, poor punctuation and bad grammar because they will form a poor opinion of your style.

To conclude this week’s essay let me quote a few lines from Woody Allen’s notebooks. “While taking my noon walk today, I had more morbid thoughts. What is about death that bothers me so much? Probably the hours. Melnick says the soul is immortal and lives on after the body drops away, but if my soul exists without my body, I am convinced all my clothes will be loose-fitting. Oh, well...”

Here the author treats a serious subject such as death in lighter vein with a touch of humour. That is the style.

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