Su Shi advocated the "new" style of the new book in Song Dynasty, paying equal attention to literature and Taoism. He praised Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu for their contributions to ancient Chinese prose from two aspects: literature and Taoism. However, Su Shi's views on literature and Taoism were very unique in the Northern Song Dynasty. First of all, Su Shi thinks that article art has independent value, such as "pure gold and beautiful jade". Article is not only a tool to carry Tao, but also an advanced form of human spiritual activities. Secondly, the "Tao" in Su Shi's mind is not limited to Confucianism, but refers to the law of things in general. Therefore, Su Shi advocates that articles should be as natural as the objective world, with a natural attitude. He advocated the diversity and vividness of artistic style, and opposed the unification of literary style, believing that it would make the literary world as barren as "yellow hair and white reed".

It is under the guidance of this unique literary thought that Su Shi's prose presents rich and colorful artistic characteristics. He absorbed artistic nutrition extensively from his previous works, the most important source of which was the heroic momentum of Mencius and strategists in the Warring States period, Zhuangzi's rich associations and natural and unrestrained writing. Su Shi is really expressive, and there is almost nothing objective or inner feelings that his works can't express. Su Wen's style changes freely with different objects and is as natural and smooth as running water. Han Yu's ancient prose relies on eloquence, layout and momentum to achieve the same goal, while Su Wen relies on a contented and thoughtful way. Su Wen is full of energy, but his language is simple and natural, which is one of the characteristics that Wen Song is different from Tang Wen.

Su Shi is good at writing argumentative essays. His historical essays written in his early years have a strong habit of strategists, sometimes pretending to be amazing and unreasonable. For example, On Jia Yi accused Jia Yi of not knowing how to make friends with ministers in order to win the trust of the court, and On Fan Zeng suggested that Fan Zeng should be the righteous emperor who killed Xiang Yu. But there are also many original opinions, such as "On Hou", which advocates that the old man was a hermit in Qin Dynasty, and humiliation is to cultivate his perseverance; On Wang Ping criticizes Zhou Pingwang's blunder in avoiding bandits and moving the capital, which is novel, profound and enlightening. These historical theories are good at randomness, amazing in writing, showing a high degree of argumentation skills, and became the model essays for scholars at that time, so they spread widely. Su Shi's political essays in his early years also had similar stylistic features, but with the deepening of his experience, the habits of strategists gradually weakened. For example, some memorials written by Yuan You are purposeful in content and calm in words, which are close to the styles of Jia Yi and Lu Zhi.

Although the historical and political theories show Su Shi's extraordinary talent, essays, letters, prefaces and postscripts can better reflect Su Shi's literary achievements. These articles are also good at renovation, but the form is more lively and the discussion is more vivid, often mixed with narration and lyricism. They strengthen logical persuasion with artistic appeal, so they are more beautiful than historical and political theories.

Su Shi's narrative notes wandering prose, narrative, lyricism and discussion are well combined.