What is your writing style?

Have you ever considered your writing style? Up until recently, I hadn't really considered my own to be honest.

What do I mean by what is your writing style?

Well, what is it about your writing that makes the reader know it's you? Are you infusing humor into your stories? Are you keeping them on the edge of their seat?

Writer's styles can range from Narrative, Expository, Persuasive, or Descriptive. But, definitions aside, stories aren't the only things that have tones, so do authors.

Each writer has their own style and once your reader gets to know your style, they will know what the tone of the story is. However, this isn't to say that writers can't change their styles. It is true that once writers find their style they tend to stick to it, but writers can change their style depending on the genre and story they choose to write.

For instance, my first novel was a Young Adult Dystopian. The stakes are typically high, the tone dramatic with dashes of action and adventure. And, as I'm writing for a younger audience, the content needs to be appropriate for their age. My next book was a Superhero story, consisting of action, adventure, some fantasy, and aimed at an audience of New Adult to Adult readers (which also meant content with more grueling stakes, violence as they fight villains, and more.) Then I jumped genres again and wrote a Young Adult Contemporary Romance...completely out of my comfort zone. However, it was a story that I felt needed to be told and I took the chance and it turned out great. It demanded different aspects of my writing, particularly in the area of real-life stakes (the struggles that we frequently go through daily), which was something I wasn't used to.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Because each of these different stories needed me to adjust my writing style and tone to suit not only the story but the genre. Each audience had different expectations that I needed to blend in with my own writing style.

Whether you feel as if you are still crafting your writing style or you haven't yet found it, there are some ways to keep improving your skills.

• Keep writing: The phrase is practice makes perfect, right? It's exactly right! If you are not continually working on your writing skills, how can they ever improve or stay sharp? If you can't work on the same project continuously, make a point to write short stories or do writing prompts.

• Read Veraciously: The more stories you read, the more writing styles you can be exposed to. With each writing style you expose yourself to, the more you learn about style in general and the more you learn about your own style.

• Let it happen: More times than I am proud of, I compare my own writing and achievements to those of other writers when in the end, we are all on our own journey. My favorite author's experiences and life help her create the stories she does just as mine will help form my own. That is the beauty of writing. It isn't something you can force but something that you practice and gradually let happen on its own.

Whatever your style ends up being, it is going to be the one your reader base grows to favor and I hope that day comes for you soon.