Learning About Writing Styles Can Help You Write Better

Writing styles can help you learn to write better

There are six common yet different writing styles.

When you understand the differences between each one, they will help your word choice and sentence structure.

In other words, you can maintain a specific style to suit any particular piece of writing.

A fiction author writes with different styles of writing to a recipe blogger, an article writer, or a political commentator.

The six writing styles

There are six basic styles of writing.

    • Descriptive
    • Expository
    • Persuasive
    • Narrative
    • Poetic
    • Technical

These different styles don’t belong to any single type of genre.

You can find a mix of any of them in fiction and nonfiction.

You might stay in one style for a blog post or article writing.

However, you don’t want to tie yourself to one particular style for most creative writing.

But you should be selective when you use one or more than one.

The choice might depend on your point of view.

Or perhaps on a specific piece or passage and how you use various literary devices.

Let’s take a quick look at each style and see how you can use them in your work.

 

The six writing styles you can use in writing

1. Descriptive

Logically, descriptive style describes things, places, or people. It is usually rich in adjectives and adverbs and often uses similes and metaphors.

You can use this style in many forms of creative writing. Common types of writing that use this style are fiction, poetry, and short stories.

Common uses:

      • Fiction novels
      • Plays
      • Songs
      • Poetry
      • Diaries
      • Nature descriptions

 

2. Expository

The expository writing style is when you inform your readers about the facts.

You are not trying to convince the readers. But you want to draw attention to something that is proven and undeniable.

For instance, there are 50 states in the USA. But only four states start with an A. The highest mountain in Europe is Mont Blanc, at 4,808 meters or 15,776 feet.

You would use this style in informative articles, nonfiction, cookbooks, or textbooks.

Common uses:

      • Textbooks
      • How-to articles
      • Recipes
      • Technical, business, or scientific writing
      • News stories

 

3. Persuasive

Persuasive writing naturally implies that it will include the author’s opinions. You want to win over your readers to your point of view or explain a concept.

You build an argument and try to persuade readers towards your opinion that you back up with solid arguments or proof.

The natural uses of the persuasive style of writing would suit a CV or business cover letter. It would also be suitable when explaining why someone should vote for a candidate in an election.

You might use this style if you write an opinion piece, a product review, or perhaps even an academic paper. You could also use it to support a cause in which you believe.

Common uses:

      • Resumès and cover letters
      • Letters of recommendation
      • Product reviews
      • Advertising
      • Letters of complaint
      • Newspaper articles

 

4. Narrative

The narrative writing style is the traditional writing technique for fiction authors.

The main element is the plot. The author narrates from the beginning through the middle and concludes at the end.

It is the voice of the author, but they can complement it with a lot of descriptive writing style.

The uses are primarily for fiction. But you can use it in many forms of creative writing, content marketing storytelling, and biographies.

Common uses:

      • Novels/Novellas
      • Poetry (particularly epic sagas)
      • Short stories
      • Anecdotes

 

5. Poetic

It is a broad area of style. But it can generally be defined as using rhyme, rhythm, and meter to convey a story or emotional feeling or sensation.

It is, of course, a unique style for pure poetry. But you can also use it in fiction.

Common uses:

      • Novels
      • Poetry
      • Plays
      • Short stories

 

6. Technical

Technical writing is to the point and factual about a specific purpose.

It is about writing on a precise subject and using facts, figures, and guidance that are unemotive to inform and instruct readers. It is common to use the imperative to explain a series of actions.

You would use this style for instruction or user manuals, analysis reports, or perhaps even press releases.

Common uses:

      • Textbooks
      • User manuals
      • Medical articles
      • Technical or scientific writing

 

Can you mix and match?

You shouldn’t get locked into using one form for one piece of writing.

There is no reason why you can’t use expository, descriptive writing to inform. But at the same time, use poetic descriptive elements.

You will almost always use passages of description in narrative writing, perhaps poetic or even in the persuasive style.

The key is to understand what style you are using and when it is appropriate and beneficial for you.

 

How to define the types of writer's style

What is a writer’s style?

Every writer or author has a particular style that can vary or personalize any of these defined styles.

A writer can use five primary areas of style in their writing.

Mood

It is the feeling or atmosphere writing creates for a reader. The mood is created through the use of setting, theme, voice, and tone.

Some examples are romantic, optimistic, pessimistic, gloomy, sorrowful, serious, humorous, angry, or cheerful.

Tone

The tone in writing is the author’s attitude about the subject matter.

It might be quite negative and short if they don’t like or disagree with something.

It will be longer and more positive if they like what they’re writing about.

Wordiness

It is when your writing or narrative uses long, complex, or run-on sentences instead of short and concise sentence structures.

Word choice

Some writers use long and more complex words, while others use shorter and simpler vocabulary choices.

Your word choice can help readers understand more about your perspective.

Syntax

Syntax in writing means the way words and sentences are put together.

In English, syntax usually follows a pattern of subject-verb-object agreement.

But authors often play around with this to find a more lyrical, rhythmic, rhetorical, or questioning effect.

 

Formal or informal writing styles?

On top of your choice of style, you should also maintain consistent formality.

In writing and speaking, it is defined as a language register, which is a set of rules that determines and controls the various levels of polite and familiar language.

Mixing informal and formal or, worse, vulgar will confuse or confound readers.

 

Summary

You don’t need to tie your writing to any one style or form.

The art of good writing is in finding a balance that will appeal to your target reader.

When you think about how a reader will react to your writing, you can then craft your message or narrative elements to suit.

The characteristics noted in this article include the most common types of writing styles.

They are a guide for you and are definitely not rules that you have to follow.

However, they can give you a better sense of direction and purpose when you write.

 

Related reading: Grammatical Moods In Writing Are Not Related To Feelings

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