Oscar Wilde and the Mask of Style

The Truth of Appearances

Oscar Wilde famously said, “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.” While it sounds like a provocation, I’ve come to see the profound truth in it. In writing, style is not something we “apply” to a story at the end; style is the very way we perceive the world.

The precision of a sentence, the choice of a specific metaphor, the rhythm of the prose—these are not “masks.” They are the clearest expressions of the writer’s soul. To care about style is to care about the reader’s experience of the truth. When we refine our prose, we are not decorating; we are clarifying.

The Monroe Minute
Choose one sentence you wrote today and rewrite it three times, focusing on making it more “stylish” or rhythmic each time.

Until the next page,
Sloane S. Monroe

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Sloane Shay Monroe

I don’t write to idealize love, but to explore it honestly, with emotional precision and depth.