What Types Of Writing Are There

Four Types of Writing

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.

Andreas., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr

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.

Tony Fischer, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

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.

anjanettew, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr

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.

Poll Time!

Brunda on August 31, 2020:

So intrested

Mishti Kansara on August 26, 2020:

Thank you. This has been helpful for me and this has been chosen for Trinity London Exam's for Speech and Drama. I am in the 7th grade and this has been chosen for London's Exam's. Congratulations to whoever has posted this. A huge heads off to you ☺️

kkk on July 20, 2020:

go go warzone

Judith on June 11, 2020:

Thank you for these great examples. They make writing essays clearer and more interesting.

Shobhit Kumar on June 09, 2020:

Its very useful and interesting

Apurva on June 09, 2020:

Good or useful

Angie Vasquez _AW15168 on May 26, 2020:

hello i play free fire

ROMAN REIGNS on May 22, 2020:

VERY USEFUL THANKS A LOT YOU WILL GO TA HEAVEN FOR HELPING A FELLA OUT!!!!! :):):):)

big boii on May 13, 2020:

hi i like minecraft

alana on May 11, 2020:

i eat burgers

alana on May 11, 2020:

umm ok soo

faranak on May 06, 2020:

The examples made things much easier at understanding. Although persuasive example was too short. over-all very helpful :)

enema on May 06, 2020:

great work, very impressive

Ravi on May 03, 2020:

Thanks for this 'expository' piece of writing @Syed Hunbbel Meer. Your use of examples made things easier at understanding.

Great work.

ZM on April 24, 2020:

can someone tell me how to do a reflection on a narrative writing

leilani on April 22, 2020:

Narrative is the most easiest type of writing for me because i am very creative .

Carolyn soka on March 13, 2020:

Very simple and easy to understand. It helps me to do my assignment. Thank you.

Caroline Victor on March 12, 2020:

Mistake perhaps- the heading for Examples in the narrative section should read Narrative, not persuasive, perhaps?

Fabulous article. I found it to be

Egigba Serorie on March 02, 2020:

Wonderful . It broadens my knowledge and also a great impact for my students . Thank you

who on February 12, 2020:

thanks

Noverty Deograthias on January 28, 2020:

Very inspirational and helpful as well.

Fatima Yakubu Adaha on January 21, 2020:

helpful and useful to my job

Hira on December 10, 2019:

Very simple and easy explanation.very helpful in my assignment. Thanks for it.

Yosan on December 03, 2019:

Awesome

what is obama last name on November 23, 2019:

Let us see if I can pump out three pages about this

l on November 19, 2019:

incredible

Moe lester on November 07, 2019:

Nice nice

Name on November 05, 2019:

Martin Luther King was a Fraud...

K.D.BAMORIYA on November 03, 2019:

Nice

jorem on November 01, 2019:

now i understand and know what to do

thank you for your simplicity

jorem on November 01, 2019:

guys writing is funfull but great care and focus must be observed

ralph on September 28, 2019:

The whistle-blower's complaint offers "strong persuasive or expository writing features topic sentences that tell the reader what to focus on."

https://nyti.ms/2mhqL8b

Jason on September 26, 2019:

oof it was ok

Alladin on August 31, 2019:

After reading this, i feel i like to have an activity for this. To check if i understand it well.

Fouzia on August 06, 2019:

Very informative and hrlpful for learner's of english as a second language.

thank you for give me a ex. on July 20, 2019:

and i understand your meaning and ex

Roetika Tangata on July 17, 2019:

I really want to learn about each text

Unknown on June 29, 2019:

It's helpful to me as a student. I just finished my assignment and I understand the meaning!! Create more explanations about a certain topic or subject.

Patrick Williams on June 23, 2019:

Thanks, good information about the writing styles. Yahweh bless you all, in Jesus' name; amen!

Selam sis on June 19, 2019:

Wow it is short &brief,so it is amazing

robert bullard on June 18, 2019:

What about humour?

Theophilus on June 11, 2019:

I saw from your viewpoint that that is helpful for a start.

Tony Wemton on May 24, 2019:

Impressive crispy guide for a newbie amateur writer. Sure foundation.

Thanks a lot.

DRAGON2.O on May 22, 2019:

VERY USEFUL

Sushma on May 13, 2019:

Very informative piece of writing.

Joseph Mareko Rotiata on May 06, 2019:

sorry we don't find what we are really looking for

I love writing on April 06, 2019:

This was a very brief but helpful website, although there is a LOT more formats that should have been used/added.

Narendra Reddy on April 02, 2019:

How to write my name style writing

Mayo on March 30, 2019:

Very usefull and clear...thank you..

asela on March 16, 2019:

thank you it is very useful

pop on March 14, 2019:

help

Glyzel "cute" Francisco on March 13, 2019:

Where is informative and instructive?

cody on February 26, 2019:

A great article. Some might add "Imaginative" to the list of styles.

At the risk of needing forgiveness, I thought Elmore's comments in this blog were interesting. Here is what an editor might have done. :) www.swlmedia.com

I've never thought about general basic writing styles. I look to understand an article. If an article's description is too wordy, it becomes difficult to read and grasp. If you can say it in 10 words, use 10 words. This is communication efficiency. I'm talking about technical writing, but the idea can be applied to other styles of writing. Some writers would rather try to impress you with complicated words as opposed to simply communicating an idea or concept. You always needed a dictionary to decipher conservative political writer William F Buckley's articles. Read the comments by Madhu is this blog. What he said is right, but he could have shown off less and communicated more.

Mr Blah on February 26, 2019:

Epic awesome for notes

Ankur nayak on February 26, 2019:

Nice very nice

Anonymous on February 25, 2019:

Jack said sarcastically, "Nice. I understood the different kinds of writing, Thanks."

Michael on February 25, 2019:

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broadway.georgia@msd.org on February 25, 2019:

these are very good notes for someone to use in class.

Mikell Cortez Lewis on February 25, 2019:

Awesome facts about different types of writing.

mhitger12 on February 25, 2019:

i will recommend this to my friends i have lot of friends

Charlie Cantrell on February 25, 2019:

Very helpful for my quiz thx!

bubblesleonhart on February 25, 2019:

cool

lyriclabs on February 20, 2019:

Useful information, Thank you

gianne on February 18, 2019:

nice

Aramide on February 09, 2019:

very helpful explanation. thanks

KEFILWE MO on January 21, 2019:

Very helpful nd useful......Thanx to you

Elias de Jesus on January 13, 2019:

nice

Jean P. Guillermo on January 03, 2019:

This is totally scholarly!

Ishtiaque Sarwar on December 12, 2018:

Wow this site is very helpfull

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MazeRunner on November 26, 2018:

nice

Yah on November 24, 2018:

Thanks for the info!

Anas on November 04, 2018:

Nice material

Inff on October 30, 2018:

The site is so resourcefull.

polo on October 29, 2018:

solid description brother ...very helpfull thanks

Anais on October 23, 2018:

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Azhar on October 15, 2018:

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Shogie Lawrence Kamol on October 13, 2018:

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arturo leake #1 first on October 11, 2018:

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rauul on October 10, 2018:

umm idk

Niki on October 08, 2018:

Really helpful... Thnks

Henry on September 28, 2018:

The Lego Movie was a masterpiece!

Hassan Rasouli on September 27, 2018:

Many thanks for your good website. The provided description for writing styles was interesting. Hope all the best for you.

sophisticated on September 25, 2018:

how does this help

m on September 25, 2018:

good

h on September 25, 2018:

good

XXAGENTFOXX on September 20, 2018:

I LOVE THIS IS DEMORCORCY AND WE CANT HAVE TRUMP!!!!

Angelina on September 17, 2018:

Legit

N Miranda on September 16, 2018:

Awesome! Helpful information for notes.

Selena on September 06, 2018:

It was really useful! Thanks for sharing your information. I hope it will help me in my FCE exam .

John Olayioye on September 03, 2018:

Thank you for sharing.

Whiskey on August 31, 2018:

Thanks this helps a lot

yeet on August 30, 2018:

seems legit.

Lesley on August 27, 2018:

so cool

Zahra on August 24, 2018:

Loved how you delivered all this is simple words *applause*

dad on August 23, 2018:

cool

Larry Paz on July 20, 2018:

A great article. Some might add "Imaginative" to the list of styles.

At the risk of needing forgiveness, I thought Elmore's comments in this blog were interesting. Here is what an editor might have done. :) www.swlmedia.com

Felix on July 20, 2018:

Wow. I am elated and enlightened. Thanks

yange on July 20, 2018:

well explained. I have learnt something from you and need to be learn a lot. keep providing such a helpful lesson. thanks.

Ella on July 12, 2018:

It's really helpful. Thanks.

Viz on July 10, 2018:

Simple, understandable explanation.