My Style Is My Style

This post is going to be short and comes with the caveat that this is my opinion, and I know many people would disagree with me. It comes after seeing many people talk about this on the internet. It comes after reading many reviews of not just my work but reviews of hundreds of other books. It's just me getting something off my chest. That's why I have a blog.

Here's the thing, I write genre fiction. I write romance and science-fiction and have even been known to dabble in a little fantasy (just on side projects). I don't write literary fiction right now. I certainly don't write purple prose or ever will. My writing doesn't even have a vague hue of violet, and thank the gods for that. I find that kind of writing pretentious and annoying. Other authors and editors have termed my work as “accessible” and that statement makes me happy. I want my writing to appeal to a wide audience, not just a handful of people who will only read classics and novels that are finalist for awards.

I have a certain style. I like to weave short, concise sentences with longer compound sentences, usually ending in a dependent clause starting with the -ing verb form. Now that I've pointed it out you'll probably notice it, right? It's the way I write because it's the way I think, the way I speak, the way I express myself. My books tend to be in first person present tense. I have short stories coming out in November that are third person present tense. I write what I want to write because that's the way the story spoke to me when I sat down at my computer.

My style, though, is grammatically correct. You'll be hard pressed to find many grammar errors in my books. Sure I miss a word every now and again because I type faster than my brain, and homophones are my enemy, but I understand the English language intimately. My proofreaders catch things that I miss, and I correct them. I now know the difference between “okay” and “OK”, and that “ok” and “Ok” are not words. I know my comma rules, what a coordinating conjunction is, and when to use parentheses or em-dashes. Because I took the time to learn all of those things. They are not part of my style. They're a part of being a good self-publisher.

It's quite possible when you read my books, you may hate my style (or my plot or my characters). That's totally fine. Many people do. But if you seriously bought my book after reading the sample (you did read the sample right? There are at least 3 places it can be read before buying) and then were disappointed that it wasn't flowery enough for you, then I have no words. None.

To those that read my books and love my style, I'm happy that you enjoyed them, and I'll keep writing what I love to write and hope you keep reading them. I'll continue to write accessible stories for those that want to read them. That's what I'm here for. That's my dream.