A writer’s style is a reflection of his or her
personality, unique voice, and way of approaching the audience and readers.
However, every piece writers write is for a specific
purpose—for example, writers may want to explain how something works or
persuade people to agree with their point of view. While there are as many
writer's styles as there are writers, there are only four general purposes that
lead someone to write a piece, and these are known as the four styles, or
types, of writing. Knowing all four different types and their usages is
important for any writer.
Here are the categories and their definitions:
1. Expository
Expository writing explains or informs. It talks about a subject
without giving opinions.
Expository writing's main purpose is to explain. It is a
subject-oriented writing style, in which authors focus on telling you about a
given topic or subject without voicing their personal opinions. These types of
essays or articles furnish you with relevant facts and figures but do not
include their opinions. This is one of the most common types of writing. You
always see it in textbooks and how-to articles. The author just tells you about
a given subject, such as how to do something.
Key Points:
·
Usually explains something in a process.
·
Is often equipped with facts and figures.
·
Is usually in a logical order and sequence.
When You Would Use Expository Writing:
·
Textbook writing.
·
How-to articles.
·
Recipes.
·
News stories (not including opinion or editorial pieces).
·
Business, technical, or scientific writing.
Example:
Many people associate the taste of pumpkins with fall. In
October, companies from Starbucks to McDonalds roll out their pumpkin-flavored
lattes and desserts. Here is how to make an easy pumpkin pie using only five
ingredients. First, make sure you have all of the ingredients.
This writing is expository because it is explaining. In this case, you
can already tell that the piece will be about how to make a pumpkin pie.
Non-example:
Everyone knows that the best part about fall is all of
the pumpkin-flavored desserts. Pumpkin pie is the best fall treat because it is
not only delicious but also nutritious. Pumpkin is filled with vitamin A, which
is essential for a healthy immune system and good vision.
This is not expository because several opinions are
stated, such as “Pumpkin pie is the best fall treat…” Although this excerpt
contains a fact about pumpkin containing vitamin A, that fact is used as
evidence to support the opinion. These opinions make this an example of
persuasive writing.
2. Descriptive
Descriptive writing
focuses on communicating the details of a character, event, or place. | Source
Descriptive writing's main purpose is to
describe. It is a style of writing that focuses on describing a character, an
event, or a place in great detail. It can be poetic when the author takes the
time to be very specific in his or her descriptions.
Example:
In good descriptive writing, the author will
not just say: “The vampire killed his lover.”
He or she will change the sentence, focusing
on more details and descriptions, like: “The bloody, red-eyed vampire, sunk his
rust-colored teeth into the soft skin of his lover and ended her life."
Key Points:
·
It is often poetic in
nature
·
It describes places,
people, events, situations, or locations in a highly-detailed manner.
·
The author visualizes
what he or she sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.
When You Would Use Descriptive Writing:
·
Poetry
·
Journal or diary
writing
·
Nature writing
·
Descriptive passages
in fiction
Example:
The iPhone 6 is unexpectedly light. While size of its screen is
bigger than those of the iPhones that came before, it is thinner, and its
smooth, rounded body is made of aluminum, stainless steel, and glass. The
casing comes in a whitish silver, gold, or a color the company calls “space
gray,” the color of the lead of a pencil, with darker gray accents.
This is an example because it describes
aspects of the phone. It includes details such as the size, weight, and
material.
Non-example:
So you just brought home a shiny new smartphone with a smooth
glass screen the size of your palm. The first thing you will want to do when
purchasing a new cell is buy a case. Cracking your screen is an awful feeling,
and protection is inexpensive when you compare it to the costs of a new phone.
Even though this example uses adjectives, you can tell that this
is not an example of descriptive writing because the purpose is not to describe
the phone—it’s to persuade you to buy a case.
3. Persuasive
Persuasive writing
tries to bring other people around to your point of view. | Source
Persuasive writing's main purpose is to
convince. Unlike expository writing, persuasive writing contains the opinions
and biases of the author. To convince others to agree with the author's point
of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons. It is often
used in letters of complaint, advertisements or commercials, affiliate
marketing pitches, cover letters, and newspaper opinion and editorial pieces.
Key Points:
·
Persuasive writing is
equipped with reasons, arguments, and justifications.
·
In persuasive writing,
the author takes a stand and asks you to agree with his or her point of view.
·
It often asks for
readers to do something about the situation (this is called a call-to-action).
When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:
·
Opinion and editorial
newspaper pieces.
·
Advertisements.
·
Reviews (of books,
music, movie, restaurants, etc.).
·
Letter of
recommendation.
·
Letter of complaint.
·
Cover letters
Example:
Following the 2012 Olympic Games hosted in London, the UK Trade
and Investment department reported a £9.9 billion boost to the economy.
Although it is expensive to host the Olympics, if done right, they can provide
real jobs and economic growth. This city should consider placing a bid to host
the Olympics.
This is persuasive writing because the author
has a belief—that “this city should consider placing a bid to host the
Olympics”—and is trying to convince others to agree.
Non-example:
According to legend, the Olympics were founded by Hercules. Now
almost 100 countries participate in the Games, with over two million people
attending. So cities from Boston to Hamburg begin considering their bid to be a
host city more than 10 years in advance.
All of these statements are facts. Therefore it’s expository. To
be persuasive writing, you must have an opinion that you’re trying to persuade
people of—then, of course, you will support that opinion with evidence.
4. Narrative
A narrative tells a story. There will usually
be characters and dialogue. | Source
Narrative writing's main purpose is to tell a
story. The author will create different characters and tell you what happens to
them (sometimes the author writes from the point of view of one of the
characters—this is known as first person narration). Novels, short stories,
novellas, poetry, and biographies can all fall in the narrative writing style.
Simply, narrative writing answers the question: “What happened then?”
Key Points:
·
A person tells a story
or event.
·
Has characters and
dialogue.
·
Has definite and
logical beginnings, intervals, and endings.
·
Often has situations
like actions, motivational events, and disputes or conflicts with their
eventual solutions.
Examples of When You Would Use Persuasive
Writing:
·
Novels
·
Short stories
·
Novellas
·
Poetry
·
Autobiographies or
biographies
·
Anecdotes
·
Oral histories
Example:
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said
Jaelyn.
“You never used to be such a girl!” retorted
Orin, pushing open the door.
Reluctantly, Jaelyn followed.
This is a narrative because it’s telling a
story. There are different characters conversing, and a plot is unravelling.
Non-example:
Cutting Edge Haunted House holds the Guinness World Record for
the largest haunted house on earth. It’s located in a district in Fort Worth,
Texas known as "Hell's Half Acre" in a century-old abandoned
meat-packing plant. The haunted house takes an hour to complete, winding
through horrific scenes incorporating the factory's original meat-packing
equipment.
While this would serve as a worthy setting for a story, it would
need a plot before it could be called a narrative.
Conclusion
These are the four different types of writing that
are generally used. There are many sub-types of writing that may fall in any of
those categories. A writer must know all these styles in order to identify the
purpose of his or her own writing and make sure it's something the audience
wants to read.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
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