A basic element of style is sound. The sound of prose or poetry can be organized as simply as sound repetition as in alliteration or rhyme or more subtly as in sentence length or rhythm. The earliest poets writing in English used verse forms that made heavy use of alliteration and rhythm. They would repeat the same consonant sound several times in a line. This is prominent feature of the poem Beowulf. Later poets, following traditions of literature in romantic languages, begun to use rhyme. Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the early English poets to incorporate rhyme into his poetic style, often for comedic effect.
In the discussion of style diction refers to word choice. English has arguably the largest vocabulary of any modern language and therefore often has several words describing a given concept. Though each word can have technically the same meaning, they can each include different associations or nuances. Many of the greatest writers in English use huge vocabularies. Shakespeare, by some counts, uses as many as 28,000 different words in the course of his works. One critic calls him the "rain forest of our language."
When linguists talk about syntax, they're referring to the ways words are organized into sentences to create meaning. This is another dimension for stylistic experimentation for writers. Sentences can be active or passive. They can be simple or compounded with several subordinate clauses. In the renaissance, writers often used long, complex sentences, achieving ornate beauty. Earnest Hemingway on the other hand was known for writing succinct, factual sentences, that were powerful and poignant.
When writers depict characters in literature, they use stylistic techniques to bring the characters to life. A very common way to achieve this is through dialog, and many great authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald or Virgina Woolf created characters with distinctive voices. Another development in the style of character development is called interior monologue, with which the author depicts the inner thoughts of the characters, revealing the emotional and intellectual lives of the characters. An extreme version of this style is displayed in William Faulkner's stream-of-consciousness style used in his famous novel The Sound and the Fury.
Discussions of literary style will often address the overall organization of a work. Traditionally a story is told somewhat chronologically from beginning to end. This structure is reflected in the works of Shakespeare or Jane Austin novels. However, in the last century, a great deal of experimentation has been done in the realm of organization. James Joyce's novel Ulysses displays nonlinear plot structure, as well as other organizational styles. One chapter is written as though it were a play. Another is written as though it were a series of news articles describing the situation.