C.J. Hribal: Big Secrets of Writing (January 1997)

We commonly speak of a fiction writer’s style, as though that style were static or intractable. Yet, C.J. Hribal argues in this lecture, style can change according to the needs of a given story, and can even change within that story. Through close readings of fiction by Rachel Ingles, Ota Pavel, Angela Carter, and Tim O’Brien, Hribal explores how each writer deploys style at different moments—including spare or lush language, point of view, and repetition—to convey emotional nuance and narrative tension.