The purpose of this blog is to expose readers to how and why a renowned writer – in my case, Virginia Woolf – has succeeded in her writing career. Virginia Woolf has been regarded as a feminist and a trailblazer for the use of stream of consciousness as a literary device in her writing. However, in this analysis, I will discuss her essay “Solid Objects,” which is more of cohesive prose than word vomit.

As a college student, I find it wearisome constantly trying to express my ideas in essay format but I believe studying a respected writer’s style has helped give me more direction in my own paper.

British author Virginia Woolf has a distinct writing style that contributes to her power and depth. Through elevated diction, readability, social sensitivity, organization, and language, she has the ability to turn complex themes into fascinating storylines. Specifically, in her essay “Solid Objects,” she proves her mastery of the English language through the various details her work includes. She succeeds in many areas in terms of uncomplicated and descriptive prose.

“Solid Objects” relates the way the main character John’s life changes after he discovers a piece of glass, which resembles a precious stone, in the sand at the beach. After this finding, he becomes consumed by the need to find any intriguing object made of either china, glass, amber, rock, or marble.

He keeps his eyes trained to the ground – especially in neighborhoods with waste thrown in the streets, between railway lines, and sites of demolished houses – and he finds plenty of unique objects. One day, when he is on his way to a meeting with his constituents, he spots an unusual piece of china in the shape of a starfish and misses his appointment to capture it. Then, he utilizes this object as a paperweight on his mantelpiece, since he has multiple papers that need to be organized as part of his political career.

Soon enough, his obsession to find anything remarkable among the waste in London’s streets costs him his career in Parliament. After he neglects his duties as a candidate, his friend Charles tries to sympathize with him but cannot understand his interest in these “pretty stones.” Charles’ opinion does not affect John, however, and he further concentrates on his search; as Woolf explains,

 

 

“…he ransacked all deposits of earth.”

Even though from this summary, this does not sound like an entertaining story, Virginia Woolf uses her writing skills to depict an engaging piece.

According to writing professor John R. Trimble’s guidebook, Writing with Style, diction involves concise and impactful word choice, active verbs, and creative sentences. Woolf achieves these through words like tenuity and vitality that describe the shadows of John and his friend Charles on the beach, hirsute and virile that describe their physical appearances, benignity that describes the feeling of finding something to keep on a path or at the beach (i.e., a stone), and condole that expresses Charles’ desire to comfort John over his failed candidacy to become a member of Parliament. Also, her personification of two objects contributes to the overall creativity of her essay;

“…the china so vivid and alert, and the glass so mute and contemplative…”

These human characteristics elevate her writing and emphasize the main character John’s fascination concerning these objects. Moreover, throughout the narrative, Woolf uses both active and passive voice to illustrate a well-organized and meaningful series of events.

In terms of readability, Woolf satisfies Trimble’s requirements. He explains, “Basically, I require two things of an author. The first is that he or she have something fresh to say – something that will either teach me or amuse me… The second requirement is that he not waste my time getting out what he has to say” (58). She has a transparent writing style and adds certain details to interest the reader. For example, she gives a voice to the stones that end up as decorations on children’s dressers from trips to a park or a beach;

“It might so easily have been any other of the millions of stones, but it was I, I, I!”

These stones depict the “solid objects” with which John forms an obsession.                                                             Photo by Matt Hardy on Pexels.com

This offers a distinct quality to the situation because it transforms a lifeless item into an animate being in a simple sentence.

In terms of social sensitivity, Woolf structures her sentences in a way that feels more like a story she is recounting to a friend than an essay she is producing as part of her job. This inviting environment she establishes through her writing also relates to language because she evokes emotion from her readers. For example, she skillfully brings them back to their childhoods as she describes the sensation of finding a stone at the beach that one puts on his dresser as a keepsake. Towards the middle of her essay, she illustrates:

“That impulse, too, may have been the impulse which leads a child to pick up one pebble on a path strewn with them, promising it a life of warmth and security upon the nursery mantelpiece, delighting in the sense of power and benignity which such an action confers, and believing that the heart of the stone leaps with joy when it sees itself chosen from a million like it, to enjoy this bliss instead of a life of cold and wet upon the high road.”

In a single statement, she describes such a distinct memory from readers’ childhoods.

When it comes to organization, her themes remain consistent throughout the essay. She portrays John’s increasing obsession with collecting random yet striking pieces of waste and how it leads to the downfall of his career.

Descriptive words and entertaining sentences that result in an enjoyable essay define Woolf’s writing style. She makes her paragraphs seem effortless through their organization. Plus, the attributes given to the characters and the objects capture the reader’s attention and gives him nostalgic feelings. With a powerful writing style, Woolf is the model example of what one needs to include in his writing to make the finished product a worthwhile essay.