C.S. Lewis’ work is marked by elegance. His nimble cadence, graceful intelligence, and pastoral tone make him a paragon for writers today.
In his radio talks, essays, and personal correspondence, Lewis left breadcrumbs of profound wisdom for authors seeking to hone their style and voice.
1. Disregard originality
In one of his famous BBC talks, Lewis frames the discussion by putting the notion of “originality” in its proper place:
No man who cares about originality will ever be original. It's the man who's only thinking about doing a good job, or telling the truth who becomes really original—and doesn't notice it. Even in social life, you'll never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking what sort of impression you make. That principle runs all through life, from the top to the bottom: give up yourself, and you'll find your real self. Lose your life, and you will save it.
2. Begin with clarity
From there, Lewis asserts that an author’s style begins, not on the page, but in his mind. In an essay entitled “Cross-Examination,” Lewis states:
The way for a person to develop a style is (a) to know exactly what he wants to say, and (b) to be sure he is saying exactly that.
3. Craft vocabulary and rhythm
Once clarity of concept has been achieved, this idea must be artfully shaped. In a letter to his friend, Arthur Greeves, Lewis says:
Every thought can be expressed in a number of different ways: and style is the art of expressing a given thought in the most beautiful words and rhythms of words. For instance, a man might say, “When the constellations which appear at early morning joined in musical exercises and the angelic spirits loudly testified to their satisfaction.” Expressing exactly the same thought, the Authorized Version says “When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Thus by the power of style, what was nonsense becomes ineffably beautiful.
3. Read each sentence out loud
How does one go about crafting word choice and sentence flow? In a letter to a young writer, Lewis counsels…:
Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken. If it does not sound nice, try again.
Conclusion
In these 4 simple steps, Lewis has charted a path for each writer to achieve their own unique style. But though the way is clear, these steps take years of practice. In another letter to Arthur Greaves, Lewis offers a closing word of encouragement:
What you want is practice, practice, practice. It doesn’t matter what we write (at least this is my view) at our age, so long as we write continually as well as we can. I feel that every time I write a page either of prose or of verse, with real effort, even if it’s thrown into the fire the next minute, I am so much further on.
Free Resource
If you found this advice helpful, grab your copy of these practical, free guided journal pages, written around powerful insights from C. S. Lewis. It’s aimed at helping you organize your thoughts, articulate them more clearly, and then refine them so that they really “sing” from the page.
C. S. Lewis: 4 Tips to Hone Your Writing Style