by Jim Bessey

Created on: July 19, 2009   Last Updated: July 30, 2009

Everything we write reflects our own personal style, whether we want it to or not. We are artists who paint with words. Our palette and composition are composed of words, phrases, sentences within the framework of our published works. Every time you put words together to express your thoughts you do so in a way that is subtly (or not) unique to you.

How can every writer have his or her own style? Surely, if every author took a different approach to writing the results would be literary mayhem. And yet, we each yearn to develop our own voice. Do you want to know the secret?

Don't try.

Let your own style emerge from the confidence of your grasp of the language, all on its own. The way you walk is subtly different from the way everyone else walks.However, unless you have spent the last four months in rehab, it's unlikely you have given any thought to the process or to making your gait unique. Your personal writing style will evolve in the same way, if you let it.

Master the mechanics, and let your confidence do the rest.

As writers, we all learn the same rules. We have read Strunk and White's Elements of Style more than once. We've read endless advice from respected blogs. We own a thesaurus and know how to use it. We have done our best to master the nuances of good grammar, and even learned when and how to carefully break those rules for best effect.

Years ago, our English teachers convinced us of the value of using the essay style to assemble factual articles. Our fiction weaves foreshadowing, metaphor, simile and theme to spin a tale that intrigues. We know, understand, and appreciate all the basics that comprise the mechanics of writing. Perhaps it's surprising, then, that no two articles or stories are exactly alike (except, of course, when one's work is plagiarized).

How could a writer have a unique writing style, then?

Pick up a novel penned by your favorite author. Read a page or two and notice how you settle into the comfort of his or her familiar phrasing. It's subtle, but incontrovertibly real. If the book had no cover and no credits, you'd probably still recognize the prose - even without character clues. Do you suppose that the author spent years pondering her "style" as she crafted her novels? Probably not.

A writer's style is as intricate and unfathomable as the mysterious brain connections behind the assembled words.

Every year, thousands of amateur authors compete to mirror Hemingway - one of the most imitated and recognizable styles

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