diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index eac2a00..6ab4911 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ bullets
 strong_em_symbol
   In markdown, both ``*`` and ``_`` are used to encode **strong** or *emphasized* texts. The preferred symbol can be passed through this argument, that defaults to ``*``.
 
-newline
-  Defines the style of marking linebreaks (``<br>``) in markdown. The default value ``'spaces'`` of this option means the regular ``  \n`` will be used (i.e. two spaces and a newline), while ``'backslash'`` will convert a linebreak to ``\\n`` (a backslash an a newline). While the latter convention is non-standard, it is commonly preferred and supported by a lot of interpreters.
+newline_style
+  Defines the style of marking linebreaks (``<br>``) in markdown. The default value ``SPACES`` of this option means the regular ``  \n`` will be used (i.e. two spaces and a newline), while ``BACKSLASH`` will convert a linebreak to ``\\n`` (a backslash an a newline). While the latter convention is non-standard, it is commonly preferred and supported by a lot of interpreters.
 
 Options may be specified as kwargs to the ``markdownify`` function, or as a
 nested ``Options`` class in ``MarkdownConverter`` subclasses.
diff --git a/markdownify/__init__.py b/markdownify/__init__.py
index 59aa694..5aa6f91 100644
--- a/markdownify/__init__.py
+++ b/markdownify/__init__.py
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ ATX_CLOSED = 'atx_closed'
 UNDERLINED = 'underlined'
 SETEXT = UNDERLINED
 
+# Newline style
+SPACES = 'spaces'
+BACKSLASH = 'backslash'
 
 def escape(text):
     if not text:
@@ -47,7 +50,7 @@ class MarkdownConverter(object):
         heading_style = UNDERLINED
         bullets = '*+-'  # An iterable of bullet types.
         strong_em_symbol = '*'
-        newline = 'spaces'
+        newline_style = SPACES
 
     class Options(DefaultOptions):
         pass
@@ -156,7 +159,7 @@ class MarkdownConverter(object):
         if convert_as_inline:
             return ""
 
-        if self.options['newline'] == 'backslash':
+        if self.options['newline_style'] == BACKSLASH:
             return '\\\n'
         else:
             return '  \n'