Style refers to the individual traits or characteristics of a piece of writing. It is a writer's particular way of writing words that readers recognize. A distinctive style sets a literary work apart from other works. The style in which a story is written is one of the clearest indications of the tone of a story.  For example, Ernest Hemingway's style is like listening to a conversation. He is a master of swift, terse dialogue, often using understatement to imply greater depths of feeling than he puts into words. The following excerpt from "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a good example of his style:

"In the daytime the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference."

When looking at the language a writer uses to express his or her attitude, look at traits, such as the length and complexity of the sentences and diction, i.e., the choice of words. Also involved in style is any regular use of imagery, patterns of sound, or figures of speech.