Essay Styles
Got a pencil?
I got a couple of friends to read some of my writings and they commented that I write in a very The Economist style. As a matter of fact, they do really have a distinct style but I didn't consciously follow their style - it was through a very long period of reading (since my Secondary 4 days when I more or less decided I'd study Economics). And I guess it goes to show how much reading influences our writing.
Unfortunately, that would also mean that I'm pathetic with story writing, narratives and particularly descriptive essays. I specialise more in the examination of issues, analysis of ideas and dissecting phenomena rather than aid readers with imagining experiences, or appreciating sights and sounds of something they never got to see or hear. Despite that, I probably don't follow the 'Unnecessary Words' rule as closely as John Grimmond would like. I'm still pretty generous with my useless adverbs and cliche adjectives.
Worst, I am not always very direct in my writing. A student of the social sciences should realise that concise, clear explanation and analysis aids readers and you should be sticking to that unless your motive is to befuddle teachers into believing you have a good mastery of the complexity of the subject - which, sometimes can be the case. I'd urge students to prepare for essay tests (of social sciences) by pre-fabricating chunks of concise explanations of certain concepts, be they the cumulative causation model of Gunnar Myrdal, the demand and supply of Adam Smith, the Kantian ethics of Immanuel Kant or Communism of Karl Marx.
Develop a personal essay style through reading professional writings on the topics you enjoy. This sort of stuff often starts with imitation, conscious or not - we mostly learn things through trying to copy whatever we consider ideal and then deviate or innovate from there. I borrowed a copy of The Economist Style Guide from the library a week back and found that it is less instructive compared to The Elements of Style; it discuss why a certain prescription is made and gives multiple examples as well as exceptions. I liked the fact that it recommends a standard for capitalization, small capitals and also some consistent punctuation. It's Part III - Useful Reference provides a exotic array of information that will probably be useful to any journalist or editor. Advice like 'Do not be hectoring or arrogant; Nobody needs to be described as silly: let your analysis show that he is' is particularly entertaining to me.