The writers of manuals of style ignore, for the most part, that everyone has style, their very own style. What they are trying to teach is the "learned" accepted diction of the establishment. Because of their slanted view of what constitutes the right and proper use of the written word, they completely miss what constitutes individuality and the essence of communication. It's only after you delve deeply into their books do you discover that one of their most important "rules" is to be yourself. Don't try to use an "affected" voice.
Which brings us to the meaning of style as opposed to diction. Diction is the first efforts of learners of composition, which includes errors in grammar, sentence construction and confusion, in the meaning of words or improper use of words. Style on the other hand, is the product of a matured, ordered mind which is exhibited by elegance, peculiarity, nicety, and beauty of composition. To improve diction, one need only write purely and clearly, cleaning up the grammatical errors, whereas, style goes the extra mile and can be polished, elegant, florid, poetic, sober, terse, exciting, dogmatic, ethnic, guttural, &c,. So, diction comes from the ordinary sort of activity, as example one writing a letter to a parent, while style comes from authors who attempt to grasp a readers attention and amuse or educate him; or so said George Crabb back in 1849 and paraphrased to bring his thought to the current time. (See Crabb's Synonymes, Tenth Edition, Harper and Brothers, 1849)
Origin of the word, style, comes from the instrument, a stylus, used to chase in a wax surface words and pictures. A stylus was also used to engrave clay for the creation of tablets, once fired, are everlasting, or perhaps used to engrave a metal surface, as example lead or silver or even gold, in creating a design or record. But there are other meanings for the word "style", as example, Beau Brummell, aka George Bryant, who led the fashion parade in England in the 1800's. (For those who seek to be leaders in customs it is well to remember that Bryant became bankrupt, fled his creditors from England to France and died impoverished and insane. Oh well, you can't have it all.)
But what is style? Beau Brummel is said to have had it. Of course today we say he was foppish. He does serve as a good example of style. His style was to dress with a flair that could not be copied easily by the others of the court. Too much style in the wrong place is just as unseemly as wearing a tuxedo to a jeans function at the White House. Published writers have their own style used when it comes to putting pen to paper or speaking. William Buckley comes to mind as one who has a great grasp of the English language and can and does use words that even if familiar would sound foreign if they rolled off most people's tongues (Yet he comes across as a stuffed shirt that has piles.)
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A teacher of English at a major Land Grant Institution had this to say about an essay one of her students produced. "I hope you never take another English course, if you do you probably will fail." This in response to a piece that had style. She was afraid that in the course of education, this students truly artful style would be lost. How sad.
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When you swim in a school of fish, you don't exhibit your style. That's great if you don't want to be noticed by a predator, but into today's work environment, if you don't stand out from the crowd and make your own statement, you'll be sitting at the same desk ten years from now wondering why others have moved forward and you're still acting as a scribe, copying the works of others. What do you "wannabe?"
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