Tuesday, March 12, 2013

What is Your Style?

You may know that people learn in different ways but did you know that they also “experience” reading a story in different ways based on their preferred learning style? These different styles guide the way we internally represent experiences and influence not only how we read, but how we write.

In general, there are three main learning styles: visual, aural, and kinesthetic. A visual person learns best by reading then mentally translating words into pictures. An aural (auditory) learner understands new ideas and concepts by hearing information. Aural learners pick up the true meaning of someone’s words by listening for changes in tone. A kinesthetic (physical) learner is best with hands on learning and doing it herself. Of course, most of us use a combination of the three or have one dominant style with the others secondary. (Some researchers believe there are actually five styles--verbal, visual, physical, logical and aural--or more.)

What does this mean when we read? Well, three people can read the same scene in a book and experience it in different ways. Let’s say the scene is a man running from a murderer during a snow storm. A visual person “sees” it as a movie, visualizing the falling snow and a chase on foot past trees and boarded up houses. The aural reader “hears” the scene read in her mind, perhaps focusing on the staccato rhythm of the words that sound like the pounding of running feet. The kinesthetic reader “feels” the cold of the snow and the rapid heartbeat of the man running for his life. Some of these more physical readers become so immersed in their feelings while reading a scary book they may jump up and knock something over.

Since each writer has her own learning and corresponding reading style, it makes sense that it’s more comfortable to write in that style. For example, a visual learner may write mostly descriptive phrases and not take into account the rhythm of words. Conversely, an aural learner might write beautiful sentences that sound good to the ear but lose the story line with slower moving prose.

During the writing process, a visual learner may doodle, clip magazine pictures to represent characters, or use color coding to organize thoughts and ideas. An aural learner might talk out ideas, read dialogue in different voices and edit by reading the story, including punctuations marks, out loud. And a kinesthetic learner may prefer to get out of the chair and act out what she is writing or make a three dimensional object to represent an idea. In order to understand and include other styles, perhaps we could experiment with different methods that take us out of our comfort zone.

The implication is that all readers don’t experience a story in the same way. If we want to appeal to everyone, we need to write visually evocative descriptions, listen to our word choice and rhythm, and make sure to include phrases that produce physical sensation.

What’s your learning style? Is it the same as your preferred writing style?

 

9 comments:

  1. I'm an auditory/logical learner with a touch of physical, which means that I have to go back and describe things that I missed so that the visual learners have something to see. I think that there are more visual learners than any other group.

    The funny thing is that I decided to start with color in my new WIP, which is weird for me. Then I add movement and sound. Very backward, but I hope it catches the readers attention.

    Thanks for pointing out that our learning style effects our writing. It will be a factor in editing.

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  2. This was a new concept for me, E.B. It never occurred to me that our learning style carries over to our reading and writing styles. But it makes sense when I think about it.

    I look forward to reading your novel and seeing how you started with color then added movement and sound. I’m intrigued.

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  3. I'm more of a visual learner, Kara. My mind tends to wander if I'm listening to someone talking, especially if it goes on for any length of time. However, some story tellers, like Garrison Keillor, holds my attention well. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that his stories don't last much more than ten minutes. I'm also able to listen better in a car. Probably because I don't have other things to distract me like the dog wanting attention or a phone call.

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  4. My primary learning style is visual, secondary is auditory and third tactile.

    My first drafts are written from the visual perspective and then I need to add the auditory and tactile in later drafts (although I am getting better at including other sense in the first draft.)

    What I have found to be very useful is reading my manuscript out loud. I catch all kinds of problems I did not when just reading on a screen or a printout.

    ~ Jim

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  5. I’m a visual learner, too, Gloria. I don’t know if you’ve had the same experience but I remember color and pictures better than numbers and letters. This morning I couldn’t remember the letter of the level and number where I parked my car in a multistory parking garage. I walked around for 20 minutes before finally spotting it. My favorite parking garage was in Los Angeles. In addition to each section having a letter and number, it was color coded and had piped in music. If I couldn’t remember I was parked on P2, I could recall it was the pink level with a graphic of a woman holding an umbrella and music from Mary Poppins.

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  6. It’s good that you recognized you were a strong visual learner, Jim, and made a conscious effort to add auditory and tactile in later drafts. I don’t read out loud while editing but I will do that more often. Thank you for the suggestion.

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  7. I'm a tactile learner. Need to DO something before it sticks.
    This was very interesting info!

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  8. I am primarily auditory. I have to check my work to see that I didn't add commas when there was a break in how the work sounds.

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  9. You are unique, Carla! I read that only 10% of the population are kinesthetic learners. Visual learners account for 60% and auditory 30%.

    Are you also a tactile writer and need to walk when planning a story or act out scenes?

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