# Lecture XII: On Style explained — On the Art of Writing

> Chapter companion for On the Art of Writing by Arthur Quiller-Couch.

## What happens

The lecturer addresses the elusive nature of style, arguing that it cannot be reduced to rules or extraneous ornament. He reiterates that literature is a living, personal art, and that style is the expression of the individual. He defends linguistic liberty and the use of neologisms when appropriate, and criticizes jargon as dead language. The chapter emphasizes that great literature is alive because it deals with human experience, not cold certainties.

## Themes in this chapter

### Literature as a Living Art

The central theme: literature is alive because it is personal, dealing with human emotions and experiences, not abstract certainties.

### Style and Personality

Style is not extraneous ornament but the personal expression of the writer; it is inherently individual and varied.

### Critique of Jargon

Jargon is denounced as dead language, in contrast to living, flexible speech that responds to human needs.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The lecturer, reflecting on his own experience with critics and defending his approach to teaching style.

### Samuel Johnson

Cited as a critic who judged literature by its truth to life, ensuring his own survival as a writer.

### Shakespeare

Mentioned as an example of audacious linguistic creativity, and referenced via Mr. Frank Harris's study.

### Sir Thomas Browne

Quoted on the theme of immortality: 'there is nothing immortal but immortality.'

### Cardinal Newman

Referenced for the anecdote of the Persian lover and the purchased ornament, illustrating what style is not.

### Francis Thompson

Mentioned for his essay on Shelley, advising care in word choice for poets.

## Key lines

> Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—wholeheartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.

If you are tempted to write something overly ornate or self-consciously beautiful, indulge the impulse fully, then cut it out before publication. Kill your favorite phrases.

_A practical rule for avoiding extraneous ornament in style._

> Literature, being by its nature personal, must be by its nature almost infinitely various.

Because literature is a personal expression, it naturally takes on an endless variety of forms.

_Reinforces the idea that style cannot be standardized._

> I hold it a sin against the light to put up a warning against any word that comes to us in the fair way of use and wont (as 'wire,' for instance, for a telegram), even as surely as we should warn off hybrids or deliberately pedantic impostors.

It is wrong to forbid a word that enters common usage naturally, like 'wire' for telegram, though we should still reject artificial or pedantic inventions.

_Defends linguistic liberty and the natural evolution of language._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_art_of_writing_se/chapters/lecture-xii-on-style
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_art_of_writing_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_art_of_writing_se/chapters