Choice of words[edit]

Diction, or the choice of words, is an element of a writer's style.[24]


Suggestions for using diction include the use of a dictionary,[25][26] and the avoidance of redundancy[27][28][29] and clichés.[30][31][32] Such advice can be found in style guides.[33][34]

Choice of sentence structure[edit]

The choice of sentence structure pertains to how meaning is conveyed, to phrasing, to word choice, and to tone. Advice on these and other topics can be found in style guides.[35][36][37][38]

Choice of paragraph structure[edit]

Paragraphs may express a single unfolding idea. Paragraphs may be particular steps in the expression of a larger thesis. The sentences within a paragraph may support and extend one another in various ways. Advice on the use of paragraphs may include the avoidance of incoherence, choppiness, or long-windedness, and rigid construction; and can be found in style guides.[39][40][41][42]

Elocutio

Figure of speech

Rhetorical device

Aquilina, Mario (2014), The Event of Style in Literature, Basingbroke:

Palgrave Macmillan

Baldick, Chris (2004), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford: , ISBN 978-0-19-860883-7

Oxford University Press

Biber, D. (1988), Variation across speech and writing, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Bradbury, Ray (1971), "The Strawberry Window", A Medicine for Melancholy, New York:

Bantam

Browne, Renni; King, Dave (1993), , New York: Harper Perennial, ISBN 0-06-272046-5

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

* Canagarajah, S. (2013), Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations, New York: Routledge

Crews, Frederick (1977), (2nd ed.), New York: Random House, ISBN 0-394-31211-2

The Random House Handbook

Dickens, Charles (2000) [First published 1859], A Tale of Two Cities, London: , ISBN 978-0-141-19690-9

Penguin Books

Eastman, Arthur M.; Blake, Caesar; English, Hubert M. Jr.; et al., eds. (1977), The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Expository Prose (4th ed.), New York: , ISBN 0-393-09145-7

W. W. Norton & Company

Fahnestock, J. (2011), Rhetorical Style: The Uses of Language in Persuasion, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Gardner, John (1991), The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, New York: , ISBN 0-679-73403-1

Vintage Books

(1911), "Style (literary)" , in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 25 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 1055–1058

Gosse, Edmund William

Hacker, Diana (1991), The Bedford Handbook for Writers (3rd ed.), Boston: , ISBN 0-312-05599-4

Bedford Books

Lamb, Nancy (2008), The Art and Craft of Storytelling: A Comprehensive Guide to Classic Writing Techniques, Cincinnati: , ISBN 978-1-58297-559-7

Writer's Digest Books

Lanham, R. (2003), Analyzing Prose, Bloomsbury Academic

Mack, Maynard; Knox, Bernard M. W.; McGaillard, John C.; et al., eds. (1985), The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, vol. 1 (5th ed.), New York: , ISBN 0-393-95432-3

W. W. Norton & Company

Pianka, Phyllis Taylor (1998), , Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, ISBN 0-89879-867-1

How to Write Romances

Ray, Brian (2015), Style: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy, Fort Collins, CO: U of Colorado P; WAC Clearinghouse,  978-1-60235-614-6

ISBN

Ross-Larson, Bruce (1991), The Effective Writing Series: Powerful Paragraphs, New York: , ISBN 0-393-31794-3

W. W. Norton & Company

Ross-Larson, Bruce (1999), The Effective Writing Series: Stunning Sentences, New York: , ISBN 0-393-31795-1

W. W. Norton & Company

Rozelle, Ron (2005), Writing Great Fiction: Description & Setting, Cincinnati: , ISBN 1-58297-327-X

Writer's Digest Books

Sebranek, Patrick; Kemper, Dave; Meyer, Verne (2006), Writers Inc.: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning, Wilmington: , ISBN 978-0-669-52994-4

Houghton Mifflin Company

; White, E. B. (1979), The Elements of Style (3rd ed.), New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., ISBN 0-02-418220-6

Strunk, William Jr.

Weber, J. J., ed. (1996), The Stylistics Reader: From Roman Jakobsen to the Present, London: Arnold

Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield: , 1969

G. & C. Merriam Company