Ask the Author: writing styles

Ask the Author – The Question: What makes an author’s style of writing unique?

This will sound sort of trite, but: personal experience.

Here’s the thing, and this, again, sounds trite, and indeed, it’s overused, but it’s also true: no one can write the story that *you* can write. Because everyone’s personal experience shapes them differently, and they approach stories differently.

I have an exercise I do when I teach creative writing classes. I give everybody the same 5 sentences, the opening of...