what is style in creative writing

Writing Styles: What is Style in Writing?

Sean Glatch  |  May 16, 2024  |  2 Comments

Writing styles may be hard to define, but something separates Hemingway from Steinbeck, Atwood from LeGuin, or Keats from Wordsworth. Though two given writers might dwell on similar themes, every writer expresses a unique writing style, conveyed through elements like word choice, narrative structure, and the author’s own voice.

But what is style in writing? On some level, style is ineffable. It’s also emergent: when you parse the elements of writing styles, you lose something that lives in how you put them together.

This article provides tips for honing style in your own work. We’ll analyze the different types of writing styles, look at examples of different writing styles from famous authors, and suggest different ways to experiment in your own work.

But first, let’s clarify what we mean when we say “writing styles.” What is style in writing?

What is Style in Writing?

Think of writing style as the author’s thumbprint—a unique and indelible mark on the voice and personality of the work. If a writer’s work is a house, style is what adorns that house: the window blinds, the doormat, the freshly painted eaves.

Style is like an author’s thumbprint—a unique and indelible mark on the voice and personality of the work.

Authors doesn’t only hone their style deliberately: writing styles emerge as a result of dedication, the author’s own personality, and a continuous experimentation with language and meaning.

To illustrate what we mean by style, let’s compare two examples of different writing styles from two different works of fiction. Each excerpt talks about the same dilemma—the endurance of memory​​—but approaches that dilemma in uniquely stylish ways.

“Perhaps you have forgotten. That’s one of the great problems of our modern world, you know. Forgetting. The victim never forgets. Ask an Irishman what the English did to him in 1920 and he’ll tell you the day of the month and the time and the name of every man they killed. Ask an Iranian what the English did to him in 1953 and he’ll tell you. His child will tell you. His grandchild will tell you. And when he has one, his great-grandchild will tell you too. But ask an Englishman—” He flung up his hands in mock ignorance. “If he ever knew, he has forgotten. ‘Move on!’ you tell us. ‘Move on! Forget what we’ve done to you. Tomorrow’s another day!’ But it isn’t, Mr. Brue.” He still had Brue’s hand. “Tomorrow was created yesterday, you see. That is the point I was making to you. And by the day before yesterday, too. To ignore history is to ignore the wolf at the door.”

—John le Carré, A Most Wanted Man

Compare this with the following excerpt:

“The ones who did it can always rationalize their actions and even forget what they did. They can turn away from things they don’t want to see. But the surviving victims can never forget. They can’t turn away. Their memories are passed on from parent to child. That’s what the world is, after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.”

—Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

Each quote addresses a similar theme : how the perpetrators forget, but the victims always remember, and how that remembering shapes the world. Yet they approach the topic in different ways. John le Carré illustrates his point by examining historical, world-altering events. He uses dialogue and describes the gestures of his characters to punctuate his ideas, and he ends by suggesting that, if we do not remember, then we are infinitely more vulnerable to the metaphorical “wolf at the door.”

Haruki Murakami, by contrast, uses far fewer words to illustrate the same idea. His sentences are less laden with imagery and description; they are merely vehicles to his conclusion that the world is “an endless battle of contrasting memories.”

Each author takes his own route, and each excerpt will connect with the reader in different ways. Such differences in expression are the essence of style. Writing styles showcase how a writer reaches their point, encompassing the totality of the author’s word choice, sentence structures, use of literary devices, etc. It is the gestalt of every decision, both conscious and unconscious, that the writer makes in the text.

What Authors Say About Writing Style

Before we move on, let’s illustrate this point about authors’ writing styles in another way: different quotes from authors on writing styles themselves.

• “Style is the dress of thoughts; and let them be ever so just, if your style is homely, coarse, and vulgar, they will appear to as much disadvantage.” —Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield
• “When we see a natural style, we are astonished and delighted; for we expected to see an author, and we find a man.” —Blaise Pascal
• “The essence of a sound style is that it cannot be reduced to rules–that it is a living and breathing thing with something of the devilish in it–that it fits its proprietor tightly yet ever so loosely, as his skin fits him. It is, in fact, quite as seriously an integral part of him as that skin is. . . . In brief, a style is always the outward and visible symbol of a man, and cannot be anything else.” —H.L. Mencken
• “You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.” —Katherine Anne Porter
• “Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward.” —Robert Frost
• “Style is what unites memory or recollection, ideology, sentiment, nostalgia, presentiment, to the way we express all that. It’s not what we say but how we say it that matters.” —Federico Fellini
• “Proper words in proper places, make the true definition of style.” —Jonathan Swift
• “The web, then, or the pattern, a web at once sensuous and logical, an elegant and pregnant texture: that is style.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
• “Thought and speech are inseparable from each other. Matter and expression are parts of one; style is a thinking out into language.” —Cardinal John Henry Newman
• “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” —Stephen King
• “It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.” —P.D. James

Elements of Writing Styles

Every author makes key decisions about their writing, and those decisions build over time into a cohesive writing style. What decisions do they have to make? In other words, what are the elements of writing styles?

Creative writing styles are honed through a combination of the following:

• Word choice
• Economy and concision
• Literary devices
• Context and purpose
• The author’s location, time period, and influences

Let’s explore each element in detail.

Elements of Writing Styles: Word Choice

Also called diction, word choice  refers to the artistic decisions a writer makes in choosing one word over another, and how those decisions affect the meaning, mood , tone , and ideas conveyed to the reader.

Word choice refers to the artistic decisions a writer makes in choosing one word over another, and how those decisions affect the meaning, mood, tone, and ideas conveyed to the reader.

Take a look at the following two example sentences. Only one word has been changed in each sentence, and those words are synonyms, but the changed word has a huge impact on the way each sentence is read.

• The Union beat The Confederacy during the American Civil War.
• The Union subjugated The Confederacy during the American Civil War.

As you can see, changing “beat” to “subjugated” affects every part of the sentence. The sentence moves from neutral and informative to passionate and descriptive; the idea, once impartial, now comes across as heavily invested in the outcome of the Civil War. A word like “subjugated” transmits to the reader that the Union was extremely powerful, even suggesting that the Confederacy was a victim of the North.

Small details such as word choice can have huge impacts on writing styles. Another important element to consider is syntax.

Elements of Writing Styles: Syntax

Syntax refers to sentence structure—how rearranging the order of words impacts the meaning transmitted to the reader. It is closely related to diction, but where diction is concerned with the choice of words, syntax is concerned with the arrangement of those words, as well as the length and complexity of sentences.

Syntax is concerned with the arrangement of words, as well as the length and complexity of sentences.

Much of syntax is innately learned, especially to native English speakers. For example, an English sentence is typically constructed with the subject first, and then the verb, followed by the object of that verb. See below:

• The quick brown fox (subject) jumped (verb) over the lazy dog (object).

If the daring writer wanted to complicate this syntactical order, they might write “Over the lazy dog, the quick brown fox jumped.” Of course, such experimentations can prove dangerous, as the reader might misinterpret that construction, or read it as shallow or pretentious.

Nonetheless, paying close attention to the structure, length, and word order of sentences can allow writers to develop their writing styles. Here are some other ways one might experiment with syntax:

• Structure (active to passive): The lazy dog was jumped over by the quick brown fox.
• Length : The fox jumped over the dog. OR: The quick, sly, and daring fox jumped right over the lazy and motionless dog.
• Word order : The brown fox jumped quickly over the dog lying lazily.

Notice how each of these syntactical changes affect the rhythm, meaning, and style of the sentences. Some changes certainly worsen the effect of the sentence.

A final element of syntax is punctuation. Commas, colons, semicolons, em-dashes, and periods each have their own specific use in English grammar. How the author decides to use each punctuation mark contributes to the overall style of their sentences.

Elements of Writing Styles: Economy and Concision

All stylish writers know how to use economy and concision. They know how to use fewer words, not more, and they know how to make every word count.

There are certainly rules and guidelines for concise writing. The economic writer knows to:

• Avoid adverbs.
• Use strong, visual verbs.
• Employ prepositions sparingly.
• Only use adjectives when necessary.
• Stay inside the active voice, unless the passive is necessary.
• Provide only the important details.

Later in this article, we dive deeper into concision. Nonetheless, let’s demonstrate this key facet of writing styles.

Here’s a simple, effective sentence:

We careened from California to Maine.

The wordy writer has many reasons to make this sentence more complicated. Perhaps the reader does need more information. But, the writer might also be insecure about their own writing, or else they might think every detail needs to be ornate (a tactic called purple prose ). Here’s the above sentence, written wordier. In parentheses are the rules broken from the list above.

We were driven (5) swiftly (1) and without (3) direction in (3) our little blue Chevy (4, 6), somehow (1) finding (2) our way from California to Maine.

Perhaps the little blue Chevy is important to the story. It does add some personality to the people in the car. Otherwise, this sentence is haphazard, conveying too much to the reader in too many words.

Elements of Writing Styles: Literary Devices

Literary devices are specific writing techniques that forge novel connections and possibilities in language. You are probably familiar with common devices, like metaphors and similes . However, there is a wide range of devices available to creative writers, from the hyperbole to the synecdoche, from the onomatopoeia to the paranomasia .

In any work of creative writing, literary devices are essential to both the author’s meaning and their writing style.

In any work of creative writing, literary devices are essential to both the author’s meaning and their writing style. Sometimes, the device is confined to a single sentence in the text. Other times, various elements of the writing—its plot , characters, and settings—act as metaphors for broader ideas and themes.

Here’s an example of a metaphor that’s daring, stylish, and effective:

“Love is so embarrassing. I bled in your bed. I’m sorry. I have built you a shore with all my best words & still, the waves.”

Out of Bound by Claire Schwartz

This is a striking metaphor, heartbreaking in its imagery. The speaker laments at the imperfectness of love and language: how, no matter how carefully and precisely a lover chooses the words they use to love another, those words are, inevitably, broken down by “the waves.” What do those waves represent? Perhaps the limits of language—the ever-present gap between what is spoken and what is understood. In the same way that love is modified by language, the shore is always modified by the waves.

Many stylistic decisions go into the construction of literary devices, including:

• Which devices are used.
• The images used to convey deeper meanings.
• The word choice and syntax of those devices.

Indeed, the construction of literary devices is closely related to syntax and word choice, but the way that the writer employs those devices and makes connections and comparisons is key to honing an author’s writing style.

To learn more, check out our articles on common literary devices and rhetorical devices .

Elements of Writing Styles: Context and Purpose

While an author’s writing style is the product of their own artistic integrity, some creative writing styles develop in relation to the context and purpose of the writing itself.

Some creative writing styles develop in relation to the context and purpose of the writing itself.

For example, an author might choose to write a murder mystery novel, a middle grade fiction book, and a historical account of the Sino-Japanese War. Each publication would have its own unique writing style, because the writing serves a different purpose in each book, and the author will have to write towards different audiences. We’ll explore this shortly when we look at the different types of writing styles.

In creative writing, the question of audience can matter a great deal. You would not want someone with a hard-boiled writing style to publish a romance novel in the same voice, nor would you expect a law critic to write poetry using the same word choice.

While audience should not define the author’s style and intent, it is a necessary consideration in the editing process before a work is published.

It is also important to note that there are different types of writing styles for different contexts. Let’s review those briefly.

Different Types of Writing Styles

In standard rhetorical analysis, there are four different types of writing styles: narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository. We mention a fifth style, the creative style, because certain decisions and elements are available to creative works that are not usually available to other writing styles.

Narrative Writing Styles

At its simplest, narrative is a synonym for storytelling . As such, narrative writing styles employ certain storytelling tactics to communicate a plot with characters, settings , and themes.

Narrative writing styles employ storytelling tactics to communicate a plot with characters, settings, and themes.

Here’s an example of a narrative writing style, which seeks to communicate the essential details for a reader to understand the story:

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.” —Opening lines of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

These two paragraphs give us the essentials. We know that the narrator is a child with an unkind family (character), that they live somewhere bleak and chilly (setting), and that the speaker has been made to feel inferior to her peers (theme).

Narrative writing styles are commonly used in the following:

• Creative nonfiction
• Narrative poetry
• Legal writing
• Marketing and brand development

Descriptive Writing Styles

Descriptive writing seeks to evoke sensory experiences. This type of writing concerns itself with the effective use of imagery , including non-visual forms of imagery like sounds, sights, tastes, smells, and kinesthetic and organic images.

Descriptive writing seeks to evoke sensory experiences.

Here’s an example of a descriptive writing style, which uses imagery and other devices to reconstruct a particular sensory experience through language:

“The flower shop was here and it was my father’s domain, but it was also marvelously other, this place heavy with the drowsy scent of velvet-petaled roses and Provencal freesias in the middle of winter, the damp-earth spring fragrance of just-watered azaleas and cyclamen all mixed up with the headachey smell of bitter chocolate.” —Patricia Hempl, excerpt from The Florist’s Daughter

The writer employs a variety of images, scents, and comparisons to describe the sensual intensity of the flower shop. Details of the shop’s setting, smells, and the narrator’s relationship to the shop itself combine to make this an effective, descriptive passage.

Descriptive writing styles are commonly used in the following:

• Medical writing

Persuasive Writing Styles

Persuasive writing wants to change your mind. By employing logic, argumentation, and various rhetorical strategies, persuasive writers seek to convince you that their argument or interpretation prevails.

Persuasive writing wants to change your mind.

Here’s an example of a persuasive writing style, which uses rhetorical strategies to convince you about a certain worldview:

“Perhaps everybody has a garden of Eden, I don’t know; but they have scarcely seen their garden before they see the flaming sword. Then, perhaps, life only offers the choice of remembering the garden or forgetting it. Either, or: it takes strength to remember, it takes another kind of strength to forget, it takes a hero to do both. People who remember court madness through pain, the pain of the perpetual recurring death of their innocence; people who forget court another kind of madness, the madness of the denial of pain and the hatred of innocence; and the world is mostly divided between madmen who remember and madmen who forget. Heroes are rare.” —James Baldwin, excerpt from Giovanni’s Room

In addition to Baldwin’s lyrical prose style, key elements of this passage try to persuade the reader of the narrator’s worldview. “Garden of Eden” and “flaming sword” are strong visual metaphors, and setting up this worldview as a binary (people who remember or forget) encourages the reader to sort people into one of two categories. While persuasive writing styles usually come off as confident, the narrator’s admission that he doesn’t precisely know the answer to this conundrum helps humanize the conflict he’s debating. Certainly, this is a depressing worldview, and one which the reader is free to disagree with, but the strategies Baldwin takes in constructing this paragraph are certainly compelling.

Persuasive writing styles are commonly used in the following:

Expository Writing Styles

Expository writing wants to tell you about something as neutrally as possible. The goal is to be informative: by conveying something with as little bias and interpretation, expository writing styles stick to the facts. Do note that bias is universal: it is nearly impossible for any text to remove itself from bias completely.

Expository writing wants to tell something as neutrally as possible.

Here’s an example of an expository writing style, which conveys facts in a linear and digestible paragraph:

“On June 13, 1910, Arthur James Balfour lectured the House of Commons on ‘the problems with which we have to deal in Egypt.’ These, he said, ‘belong to a wholly different category’ than those ‘affecting the Isle of Wight or the West Riding of Yorkshire.’ He spoke with the authority of a long-time member of Parliament, former private secretary to Lord Salisbury, former chief secretary for Ireland, former secretary for Scotland, former prime minister, veteran of numerous overseas crises, achievements, and changes.” —Edward W. Said, excerpt from Orientalism

This opening passage of Orientalism sets the scene factually: we learn the time period, some geopolitical issues, and a main actor in all of these events. Yes, the passage does play up the significance of Arthur James Balfour and his many accolades, but this, too, is expository description, letting the reader know exactly who and what we are dealing with.

Expository writing styles are commonly used in the following:

Creative Writing Styles

Creative writing styles combine the previous four types: a creative writer can employ narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository strategies in their work. You may have noticed that creative genres, like fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, routinely show up under the categories of writing that employ the above four styles. This is because authors must employ a variety of strategies to tell effective stories.

Creative writers can employ narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository strategies in their work.

But, in addition to employing the previous four styles, creative writing also seeks to experiment and find new, artistic possibilities in language. Poetry is an obvious example, as the use of stanzas and line breaks affects how the language is read and interpreted. But there are also countless examples of experimentation in prose, from the use of stream of consciousness to the Oulipian n+7 .

Here’s an example:

“I turned out the light and went into my bedroom, out of the gasoline but I could still smell it. I stood at the window the curtains moved slow out of the darkness touching my face like someone breathing asleep, breathing slow into the darkness again, leaving the touch. After they had gone up stairs Mother lay back in her chair, the camphor handker- chief to her mouth. Father hadn’t moved he still sat beside her holding her hand the bellowing hammering away like no place for it in silence When I was little there was a picture in one of our books, a dark place into which a single weak ray of light came slanting upon two faces lifted out of the shadow. You know what I’d do if I were King? she never was a queen or a fairy she was always a king or a giant or a general I’d break that place open and drag them out and I’d whip them good It was torn out, jagged out. I was glad.” —Excerpt from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

This is, of course, a highly literary and experimental piece of writing, but it demonstrates something distinct to creative writing styles. The italicized portions of text are streams of consciousness—moments where the reader has direct access to the unfiltered thoughts, images, and memories flowing through the character’s mind. Understanding these passages requires close attention to the text, as well as several re-reads. While creative writing styles can be far simpler than this, the point is that a creative writer takes great liberties to experiment with language, in ways distinct to creative writing, which seek to mine the wide varieties of the human experience.

Creative writing styles are commonly used in the following:

• Lyric essays
• Creative journalism

Elements of Writing Styles: The Author’s Location, Time Period, and Influences

Lastly, writers are undeniably influenced by their location, time period, and literary influences. For example, if you’ve ever read a poem or novel from Victorian Era England, you know that the Victorian writers (like the Brontës, Charles Dickens, or Percy Bysshe Shelley) often wrote in elaborate and flowery language. By modern standards, Victorian writing styles might seem overwrought; but, that style was influenced by the era’s appreciation for emotional intensity, as well as the tendency to pay writers per-word.

Writing Styles: Examples and Analyses

Let’s take a look at three writing styles examples. For each writer, we will examine how various stylistic strategies affect the overall mood and interpretation of the text, while also discussing that writer’s influences and likely intent. All examples come from published works of classic literature.

Ernest Hemingway’s Writing Style

Ernest Hemingway once wrote “A writer’s style should be direct and personal, his imagery rich and earthy, and his words simple and vigorous. The greatest writers have the gift of brilliant brevity, are hard workers, diligent scholars and competent stylists.” Hemingway’s writing style certainly lives up to this quote, as his words are often simple, direct, and unadorned.

Here’s an excerpt from his short story “ A Clean, Well-Lighted Place .”

It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk, and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept watch on him.”Last week he tried to commit suicide,” one waiter said.

“Why?”

“He was in despair.”

“What about?”

“Nothing.”

“How do you know it was nothing?”

“He has plenty of money.”

Hemingway’s writing style seeks to dispense the precise amount of information necessary for the reader, without any garnishment. Notice the details he provides: the exact time does not matter, only that “it was very late.” Notice, also, a similar pattern with the dialogue. People generally don’t speak in such clipped sentences, but the characters of this story speak to give just enough context for the story’s themes.

Additionally, the visual details, such as the dew settling the dust and the shadows of leaves against the electric light, evoke the sensation of a space that’s quiet and comforting, if also a little bit eerie.

Notice, also, the general lengths of the sentences. The first paragraph is built on longer sentences and clauses, which inevitably juxtaposes sensory details (an old man in the shadow of leaves cast by an electric light.) The effect of these sentences is that time feels slower, as the reader’s focus is on the kaleidoscope of details paused in this one moment in a quiet café.

Finally, pay attention to the lack of pretensity in Hemingway’s word choice. While the story itself deals with complex themes, including the question of nihilism, the language itself is simple, direct, and accessible.

Hemingway got his start in writing as a journalist, then as a short story writer, both of which certainly influenced his economic style. He famously coined the “Iceberg Theory,” which describes writing that focuses on surface-level details without explicitly analyzing underlying themes, rather implying those themes for the reader to interpret. Hemingway was also greatly influenced by World Wars I and II, and his writing style may have been a reaction to these wars, eschewing the flowery language of pre-war literature for a hardened, masculine style.

Toni Morrison’s Writing Style

A master of voice and character, Toni Morrison’s writing style borrows heavily from vernacular, from history, and from her own unique relationship to analogies and metaphors. Morrison frequently plays with sentence lengths and imagery, but her writing never fails to be compelling, lyrical, and delicious to read.

Here’s an excerpt from Recitatif , her only published short story:

My mother danced all night and Roberta’s was sick. That’s why we were taken to St. Bonny’s. People want to put their arms around you when you tell them you were in a shelter, but it really wasn’t bad. No big long room with one hundred beds like Bellevue. There were four to a room, and when Roberta and me came, there was a shortage of state kids, so we were the only ones assigned to 406 and could go from bed to bed if we wanted to. And we wanted to, too. We changed beds every night and for the whole four months we were there we never picked one out as our own permanent bed.It didn’t start out that way. The minute I walked in and the Big Bozo introduced us, I got sick to my stomach. It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning—it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race. And Mary, that’s my mother, she was right. Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean. So when the Big Bozo (nobody ever called her Mrs. Itkin, just like nobody ever said St. Bonaventure)—when she said, “Twyla, this is Roberta. Roberta, this is Twyla. Make each other welcome.” I said, “My mother won’t like you putting me in here.”

Both lyrical and conversational, Morrison’s style simply makes you want to read more. Pay attention to two things:

One, the lengths of these sentences. Morrison routinely switches from short sentences to longer ones, partially to emphasize important details in short sentences, and partially to keep the pace of the story engaging. The alternation of short and long sentences mirrors a conversational storytelling style.

Two, the childlike voice behind the narration. It is clear that the narrator is a child. Despite being directly stated, this fact is also obvious when certain elements of word choice are analyzed. Phrases like “smell funny” and “Big Bozo” clue the reader towards a speaker whose words and observations are that of a child.

One thing that’s absent from these paragraphs, but very much present in Morrison’s writing style, is the use of surprising comparisons (similes, metaphors, and analogies). This example comes later in “Recitatif”:

“I used to dream a lot and almost always the orchard was there. Two acres, four maybe, of these little apple trees. Hundreds of them. Empty and crooked like beggar women when I first came to St. Bonny’s but fat with flowers when I left.”

The simile “empty and crooked like beggar women” might be shocking to the reader, but it provides great insight into the personality of the narrator. This sentence is also ripe with foreshadowing , since the trees were “fat with flowers” when the narrator leaves St. Bonny’s.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Writing Style

One of America’s most influential writers, Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry and fiction forged new possibilities in the written word. Poe’s writing is often dark, gothic, and tinged with insanity, and his style reflects the problems that haunt his protagonists. Notice how psychosis influences Poe’s writing style in this excerpt from “ The Tell-Tale Heart :”

Poe adapts his style quite well to write a character who is clearly self-aggrandizing and obsessed with his own genius. The storytelling here has lots of repetition , such as “slowly—very, very slowly” and “cautiously-oh, so cautiously—cautiously” which makes the narrator sound in love with his own voice. And, it takes a while for the reader to understand what the narrator is doing, as his erratic behavior, like poking his head into the door for an hour, goes without a clear explanation.

Nonetheless, this writing is typical of Poe’s Gothic style. The use of words like “madman,” “midnight,” “vulture,” and “Evil Eye” give this story the grim moodiness characteristic of Poe’s writing. Additionally, the frequent use of em dashes and lengthy sentences propels the reader slowly, as we come to understand every minute detail that forms the totality of this character’s psychosis. This methodical, psychological writing style helps define Poe as a master of mystery and suspense.

Tips for Honing Your Own Author’s Writing Style

Writing styles develop with time, and there’s no singular thing any writer can do to hone their style. Rather, an attentiveness to language and a willingness to experiment are the best things you can do for yourself as you hone your author’s writing style. Nonetheless, here’s 7 pieces of advice for anyone who wants to write with style, flare, and confidence.

1. Creative Writing Styles: Experiment with Language and Syntax

Take risks in your writing. Be unconventional, and don’t always go for the expected word or phrase. Style doesn’t develop from playing it safe—it develops from making active decisions in the words you use to express your ideas.

What do we mean by taking risks? Here’s an example of a risky sentence, from poet Eduardo C. Corral: “Moss intensifies up the tree, like applause.”

This is a daring comparison: we don’t often think of moss “intensifying,” and so that verb already seems strange and risky. But then the moss itself is compared to applause, so now the visual cue of intensifying moss is being compared to intensifying sound. The product of this simile is that we see moss blooming and expanding across the tree, which makes this an effective and stylish sentence—but there’s a level of risk, faith, and skill involved in making this simile work .

Taking risks allows you to see what works and what doesn’t in your writing. So make bold comparisons! End your paragraphs with em-dashes! Try using four different languages in a single sentence!

Just be sure to review your work after and assess what does and doesn’t work for the reader. And, when you’re not sure what to do, try doing the complete opposite of what seems intuitive. You might find a short sentence works better than a long one, for example.

2. Creative Writing Styles: Experiment with Writing Forms

Creative writing styles often adapt to the form of the writing itself. For example, genre writing styles vary from genre to genre. You wouldn’t expect a writer of hard-boiled noir to have the same terse, simplistic style when writing romance fiction (although I would love to read that).

As you hone your writing style, experiment reading and writing in different forms. Pay attention to how the form demands you to make different stylistic decisions. The words you choose in a love sonnet will be different from the words you choose in a flash essay about your childhood. And, certainly, your sentence lengths will differ when you’re writing literary fiction versus speculative fiction .

Getting into the habit of making these stylistic decisions, and paying attention to those decisions, will help you create a mental framework for the ways you approach writing. Such is the nature of style development.

3. Creative Writing Styles: Consider Character

Character development is an essential part of fiction writing, and it will naturally affect the style you use to write. If you’re writing in first person or third person limited, then your protagonist’s personality will affect everything, because their worldview tinges the way you tell their story. Key observational details and thought processes from main characters naturally bleed into the style of the writing itself.

You can see this in action in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned , is written from the third person limited point of view of Anthony Patch, an unambitious libertine whose personality is defined by wry cynicism and a rigid belief in the purposelessness of life. These personality traits often affect the storytelling, as the reader sees the world through Anthony’s eyes, and thus trudges through a lot of Anthony’s ironic commentary and disdain for others.

Fitzgerald’s next novel, The Great Gatsby , is completely different, both tonally and stylistically. Written from the first person point of view of Nick Carraway, an optimistic bond salesman who wants to immerse himself in the high society of New York’s nouveau riche. Much of the style is poetic and introspective, honing in on the creative chaos of the Jazz Age and the tragedy of the American Dream.

For your own writing, alter your style to reflect the traits of your characters. Style reflects personality, and the person narrating your fiction will certainly want to tell their story in their own way.

4. Creative Writing Styles: Omit Needless Words

While style can take many forms, one thing that all good author’s writing styles have in common is an economy of language. In other words, no word in good writing is excessive or unnecessary. To sharpen your own style, you must omit needless words.

What does that look like? There are two ways to omit needless words: striking out redundancies, and rewriting phrases.

Here’s two examples. First, let’s look at redundancy. A redundancy is when you communicate something multiple times without refining the meaning of your words. Here’s a redundant sentence:

“The girl vaulted over the large gray boulder.”

Nothing is explicitly wrong with this sentence, but several words are giving repeat information. You don’t need the word “over,” because to vault means to jump over something. And, you don’t need the word “large,” because a boulder is, by definition, large. Finally, most rocks are gray, and the word “gray” isn’t offering much useful detail.

A much cleaner sentence would simply be “the girl vaulted the boulder.”

Another example is to rewrite phrases. If you don’t think about your words, it’s easy to communicate something in 10 words when 2 will do. Here’s another example sentence:

“She worked many long hours in order to secure a trade deal with the company.”

God, doesn’t that just read like a corporate memo? It’s passively worded and nondescript. Isolate any phrase in this sentence, and it can be truncated into something much more straightforward. Be sure to avoid phrases like “in order to”—simply “to” will always suffice.

Here’s a cleaner sentence: “She hustled to secure the Nike trade deal.”

Lastly, some categories of words are better than others. Nouns and verbs are necessary for understanding the action of a sentence. Adjectives should be used sparingly, and only when that description is necessary for the reader. Adverbs, which modify verbs, should only be used when there isn’t a sharper verb. For example, “breathing heavily” is much better written as “panting.”

For more advice, check out our article on how to omit needless words .

5. Creative Writing Styles: Read Like a Writer

How do published writers write so well? What did they do to craft such artful sentences, effective plots, or in-depth characters? While you can certainly learn these tricks by taking a writing class , you can also learn them by reading like a writer.

Reading like a writer means paying attention to the construction of a piece of literature and thinking about why that writing works. We did a little bit of this when we examined the above writing styles examples. By examining the elements of writing styles—word choice, sentence structure, character and voice, etc.—we paid attention to what makes each excerpt an effective piece of writing.

Employ those same strategies in the work you read. If there’s an author you like or whose style you admire, pay attention to what makes that style effective. And don’t be afraid to emulate that style in your own work: writers often borrow from each other’s styles and strategies to hone their own voice.

6. Creative Writing Styles: Study Poetry

The writing styles tips in this article primarily pertain to prose writers. But, whether you’re writing poetry, prose, or some secret third thing,  reading poetry is essential to honing style.

Poets are masters of language. They know how to build tension, pacing, and rhythm in their sentences. They know how to make that tension correspond with what they’re writing about. They manipulate vowel sounds, constants, tools like rhyme and meter, and a whole other host of poetic devices to move their readers.

Writing poetry is its own separate challenge. Prose writers don’t need to write poetry to master their writing styles. But they absolutely should study poetry. What makes language beautiful? What makes a poem concise? How does the flow of a sentence accentuate its meaning? Asking these questions and listening to the poets will help you experiment in your own pages.

7. Creative Writing Styles: Write Every Day

The key to honing your style is to write every day. A diligent writing practice will train your brain to think about language and make continuous stylistic choices in your work. Even if you can only manage 10 minutes a day on a writing project, or even if you just keep a writing journal, the simple practice of putting thoughts to words and words to pages will naturally sharpen the personality you put into your writing.

Hone Your Own Writing Style at Writers.com

One last piece of advice on writing styles is to read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. You can find a free copy of it online here . Most of the advice in this book has remained true in the many decades since its publication, and while rules are certainly made to be broken, you should understand the rules first before breaking them.

Want clear, direct feedback on your writing styles and the other elements of your work? Take a look at any of the upcoming creative writing classes at Writers.com! Our instructors are masters of the craft and know how to sharpen your words so that they zing across the page.

Sean Glatch

[…] Writing Styles: What is Style in Writing? […]

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What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)

Creative writing begins with a blank page and the courage to fill it with the stories only you can tell.

I face this intimidating blank page daily–and I have for the better part of 20+ years.

In this guide, you’ll learn all the ins and outs of creative writing with tons of examples.

What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)?

Creative Writing is the art of using words to express ideas and emotions in imaginative ways. It encompasses various forms including novels, poetry, and plays, focusing on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes.

Table of Contents

Let’s expand on that definition a bit.

Creative writing is an art form that transcends traditional literature boundaries.

It includes professional, journalistic, academic, and technical writing. This type of writing emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and literary tropes. It also explores poetry and poetics traditions.

In essence, creative writing lets you express ideas and emotions uniquely and imaginatively.

It’s about the freedom to invent worlds, characters, and stories. These creations evoke a spectrum of emotions in readers.

Creative writing covers fiction, poetry, and everything in between.

It allows writers to express inner thoughts and feelings. Often, it reflects human experiences through a fabricated lens.

Types of Creative Writing

There are many types of creative writing that we need to explain.

Some of the most common types:

• Short stories
• Screenplays
• Flash fiction
• Creative Nonfiction

Short Stories (The Brief Escape)

Short stories are like narrative treasures.

They are compact but impactful, telling a full story within a limited word count. These tales often focus on a single character or a crucial moment.

Short stories are known for their brevity.

They deliver emotion and insight in a concise yet powerful package. This format is ideal for exploring diverse genres, themes, and characters. It leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Example: Emma discovers an old photo of her smiling grandmother. It’s a rarity. Through flashbacks, Emma learns about her grandmother’s wartime love story. She comes to understand her grandmother’s resilience and the value of joy.

Novels (The Long Journey)

Novels are extensive explorations of character, plot, and setting.

They span thousands of words, giving writers the space to create entire worlds. Novels can weave complex stories across various themes and timelines.

The length of a novel allows for deep narrative and character development.

Readers get an immersive experience.

Example: Across the Divide tells of two siblings separated in childhood. They grow up in different cultures. Their reunion highlights the strength of family bonds, despite distance and differences.

Poetry (The Soul’s Language)

Poetry expresses ideas and emotions through rhythm, sound, and word beauty.

It distills emotions and thoughts into verses. Poetry often uses metaphors, similes, and figurative language to reach the reader’s heart and mind.

Poetry ranges from structured forms, like sonnets, to free verse.

The latter breaks away from traditional formats for more expressive thought.

Example: Whispers of Dawn is a poem collection capturing morning’s quiet moments. “First Light” personifies dawn as a painter. It brings colors of hope and renewal to the world.

Plays (The Dramatic Dialogue)

Plays are meant for performance. They bring characters and conflicts to life through dialogue and action.

This format uniquely explores human relationships and societal issues.

Playwrights face the challenge of conveying setting, emotion, and plot through dialogue and directions.

Example: Echoes of Tomorrow is set in a dystopian future. Memories can be bought and sold. It follows siblings on a quest to retrieve their stolen memories. They learn the cost of living in a world where the past has a price.

Screenplays (Cinema’s Blueprint)

Screenplays outline narratives for films and TV shows.

They require an understanding of visual storytelling, pacing, and dialogue. Screenplays must fit film production constraints.

Example: The Last Light is a screenplay for a sci-fi film. Humanity’s survivors on a dying Earth seek a new planet. The story focuses on spacecraft Argo’s crew as they face mission challenges and internal dynamics.

Memoirs (The Personal Journey)

Memoirs provide insight into an author’s life, focusing on personal experiences and emotional journeys.

They differ from autobiographies by concentrating on specific themes or events.

Memoirs invite readers into the author’s world.

They share lessons learned and hardships overcome.

Example: Under the Mango Tree is a memoir by Maria Gomez. It shares her childhood memories in rural Colombia. The mango tree in their yard symbolizes home, growth, and nostalgia. Maria reflects on her journey to a new life in America.

Flash Fiction (The Quick Twist)

Flash fiction tells stories in under 1,000 words.

It’s about crafting compelling narratives concisely. Each word in flash fiction must count, often leading to a twist.

This format captures life’s vivid moments, delivering quick, impactful insights.

Example: The Last Message features an astronaut’s final Earth message as her spacecraft drifts away. In 500 words, it explores isolation, hope, and the desire to connect against all odds.

Creative Nonfiction (The Factual Tale)

Creative nonfiction combines factual accuracy with creative storytelling.

This genre covers real events, people, and places with a twist. It uses descriptive language and narrative arcs to make true stories engaging.

Creative nonfiction includes biographies, essays, and travelogues.

Example: Echoes of Everest follows the author’s Mount Everest climb. It mixes factual details with personal reflections and the history of past climbers. The narrative captures the climb’s beauty and challenges, offering an immersive experience.

Fantasy (The World Beyond)

Fantasy transports readers to magical and mythical worlds.

It explores themes like good vs. evil and heroism in unreal settings. Fantasy requires careful world-building to create believable yet fantastic realms.

Example: The Crystal of Azmar tells of a young girl destined to save her world from darkness. She learns she’s the last sorceress in a forgotten lineage. Her journey involves mastering powers, forming alliances, and uncovering ancient kingdom myths.

Science Fiction (The Future Imagined)

Science fiction delves into futuristic and scientific themes.

It questions the impact of advancements on society and individuals.

Science fiction ranges from speculative to hard sci-fi, focusing on plausible futures.

Example: When the Stars Whisper is set in a future where humanity communicates with distant galaxies. It centers on a scientist who finds an alien message. This discovery prompts a deep look at humanity’s universe role and interstellar communication.

Watch this great video that explores the question, “What is creative writing?” and “How to get started?”:

What Are the 5 Cs of Creative Writing?

The 5 Cs of creative writing are fundamental pillars.

They guide writers to produce compelling and impactful work. These principles—Clarity, Coherence, Conciseness, Creativity, and Consistency—help craft stories that engage and entertain.

They also resonate deeply with readers. Let’s explore each of these critical components.

Clarity makes your writing understandable and accessible.

It involves choosing the right words and constructing clear sentences. Your narrative should be easy to follow.

In creative writing, clarity means conveying complex ideas in a digestible and enjoyable way.

Coherence ensures your writing flows logically.

It’s crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest. Characters should develop believably, and plots should progress logically. This makes the narrative feel cohesive.

Conciseness

Conciseness is about expressing ideas succinctly.

It’s being economical with words and avoiding redundancy. This principle helps maintain pace and tension, engaging readers throughout the story.

Creativity is the heart of creative writing.

It allows writers to invent new worlds and create memorable characters. Creativity involves originality and imagination. It’s seeing the world in unique ways and sharing that vision.

Consistency

Consistency maintains a uniform tone, style, and voice.

It means being faithful to the world you’ve created. Characters should act true to their development. This builds trust with readers, making your story immersive and believable.

Is Creative Writing Easy?

Creative writing is both rewarding and challenging.

Crafting stories from your imagination involves more than just words on a page. It requires discipline and a deep understanding of language and narrative structure.

Exploring complex characters and themes is also key.

Refining and revising your work is crucial for developing your voice.

The ease of creative writing varies. Some find the freedom of expression liberating.

Others struggle with writer’s block or plot development challenges. However, practice and feedback make creative writing more fulfilling.

What Does a Creative Writer Do?

A creative writer weaves narratives that entertain, enlighten, and inspire.

Writers explore both the world they create and the emotions they wish to evoke. Their tasks are diverse, involving more than just writing.

Creative writers develop ideas, research, and plan their stories.

They create characters and outline plots with attention to detail. Drafting and revising their work is a significant part of their process. They strive for the 5 Cs of compelling writing.

Writers engage with the literary community, seeking feedback and participating in workshops.

They may navigate the publishing world with agents and editors.

Creative writers are storytellers, craftsmen, and artists. They bring narratives to life, enriching our lives and expanding our imaginations.

How to Get Started With Creative Writing?

Embarking on a creative writing journey can feel like standing at the edge of a vast and mysterious forest.

The path is not always clear, but the adventure is calling.

Here’s how to take your first steps into the world of creative writing:

• Find a time of day when your mind is most alert and creative.
• Create a comfortable writing space free from distractions.
• Use prompts to spark your imagination. They can be as simple as a word, a phrase, or an image.
• Try writing for 15-20 minutes on a prompt without editing yourself. Let the ideas flow freely.
• Reading is fuel for your writing. Explore various genres and styles.
• Pay attention to how your favorite authors construct their sentences, develop characters, and build their worlds.
• Don’t pressure yourself to write a novel right away. Begin with short stories or poems.
• Small projects can help you hone your skills and boost your confidence.
• Look for writing groups in your area or online. These communities offer support, feedback, and motivation.
• Participating in workshops or classes can also provide valuable insights into your writing.
• Understand that your first draft is just the beginning. Revising your work is where the real magic happens.
• Be open to feedback and willing to rework your pieces.
• Carry a notebook or digital recorder to jot down ideas, observations, and snippets of conversations.
• These notes can be gold mines for future writing projects.

Final Thoughts: What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is an invitation to explore the unknown, to give voice to the silenced, and to celebrate the human spirit in all its forms.

Check out these creative writing tools (that I highly recommend):

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Have you ever wondered what makes Agatha Christie’s writing different from Dan Brown’s writing? Writing styles are what makes them unique! Even though their literary genres are the same, both these famous authors have different writing styles. 

Understanding what are writing styles and their different types will help you find your own. In this blog, we will understand the meaning of writing styles and types of writing styles with their examples. So get ready to find your style and improve your writing!

Whatever your writing style, we’ll edit it to precision! Learn more

What is a writing style?

A writing style is simply the unique way a writer expresses their ideas and crafts their prose. It’s like their personal signature or fingerprint on the page. A writer’s style can be influenced by factors such as their personality, experiences, target audience, and the purpose of their writing.

Different writing styles can evoke various tones and feelings in the reader, making the piece more engaging, persuasive, or informative. Each style has its own characteristics and techniques that writers use to effectively communicate their message. Mastering different writing styles can make you capable of tackling any writing task that comes your way.

Here’s a list of the most common and important styles of writing:

• Expository writing style
• Descriptive writing style
• Persuasive writing style
• Narrative writing style
• Creative writing style
• Argumentative writing style

Let’s look at these different types of writing styles in depth!

Types of writing styles

We will explore the types and writing style examples to learn more about them. At the end of each writing style is a worksheet for your practice!

1. Expository writing style

Expository writing serves to inform, explain, or clarify ideas and concepts. Its primary goal is to deliver information clearly and concisely without the influence of the writer’s own opinions. This style of writing is foundational in academic and technical settings, where understanding and precision are paramount. 

It is used in writing expository essays , textbooks, business reports, manuals, and articles that aim to educate and inform the reader about a particular subject.

An example of expository writing style:

A journal article explaining the process of photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is the remarkable biochemical process by which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy. It occurs in the chloroplasts, where sunlight and carbon dioxide are transformed into glucose and oxygen through a series of reactions. This process not only fuels the plant’s own growth but also sustains life on Earth by producing vital oxygen and forming the base of the food chain.

The article provides a straightforward explanation of how photosynthesis works without offering opinions or arguments.

Use this worksheet to practice expository writing style: 

Expository Writing Style Worksheet 

2. Descriptive writing style

The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to provide a detailed sensory experience for the reader. It uses rich and evocative language to describe the subject matter in a way that the reader can visualize or imagine vividly. Descriptive writing serves to immerse the reader in the scene or topic, allowing them to feel as if they are part of the setting or event being described. 

It is often used in fiction , poetry , journal entries, descriptive essays , and nature writing, as well as in certain types of journalistic and academic writing where detailed descriptions are necessary.

An example of a descriptive writing style: 

The description of a puppy.

The small puppy was fluffy, with fur as white as snow. Its bright blue eyes sparkled with curiosity as it playfully wagged its tiny tail. The soft jingle of its collar could be heard as it bounced around the sunny backyard, exploring every corner with excitement.

The description uses picturesque language to describe the puppy, making the reader imagine the experience of actually seeing the puppy.

Use this worksheet to practice descriptive writing style: 

Descriptive Writing Style Worksheet

3. Persuasive writing style

The purpose of persuasive writing is to convince or persuade the reader to agree with the writer’s point of view or to take a specific action . Persuasive writers use emotional appeals, logical arguments, and credible evidence to build their case. The effectiveness of persuasive writing lies in its ability to influence the reader’s beliefs or behaviors.

This style of writing is essential in law, advertising, political speeches, and opinion pieces.

An example of a persuasive writing style:

A speech advocating for climate change action.

Today, we stand at a crossroads. The evidence of climate change is undeniable, and its effects are devastating. We have the power to change this trajectory. By investing in renewable energy and reducing our carbon footprint, we can safeguard our planet for future generations. The time for debate has passed; now is the time for action.

The speech uses compelling language to convince the audience of the urgency of addressing climate change and suggests clear actions to be taken.

Use this worksheet to practice persuasive writing style:

Persuasive Writing Style Worksheet

4. Narrative writing style

Narrative writing serves to tell a story or to relay events in an organized, chronological manner. It is used to engage the reader by presenting a compelling tale, often to entertain, educate, or convey a particular theme or moral.

In addition to entertainment, narratives can be used to preserve history, as in the case of memoirs or biographies. It can also be used in narrative essays to share personal experiences in a relatable way or to explore complex ideas through literary devices .

An example of a narrative writing style:

A personal anecdote in a college application essay.

Back when I was eleven, a run-down piano in the community hall called out to me, its keys worn from years of neglect. Despite its decrepit state, I saw potential. Day by day, I cleaned and tuned it, and soon, my fingers danced across the keys, bringing life to melodies that had long been silent. That piano wasn’t just an instrument; it was my first step toward a lifelong passion for music.

The essay provides a narrative of personal growth and discovery centered around the piano, offering insight into the writer’s character and history.

Use this worksheet to practice narrative writing style:

Narrative Writing Style Worksheet 

5. Creative writing style

Creative writing’s purpose is to entertain, provoke thought, express feelings, and stretch the imagination of the reader. It’s a way for writers to express themselves creatively by talking about all sorts of human experiences, like wild adventures, deep thoughts, or trying out new ideas. Creative writing can help us understand what it’s like to be human, share stories that touch our hearts, or just give us a break from everyday life.

It includes genres such as fiction, poetry, drama, and other creative forms where the writer’s voice and style are integral to the work’s impact and appeal.

An example of creative writing style:

A short story opening in a literary magazine.

When Luna opened the antique locket, she didn’t expect to find the ocean. But there it was, a drop of the sea, trapped behind glass, its tiny waves crashing against the metal shores. As she peered closer, the sound of distant gulls filled her ears, and the scent of saltwater wafted through the air. Luna blinked, and for a moment, she was no longer in her grandmother’s attic.

This piece uses imaginative elements and detailed imagery to engage the reader and tell a story.

Use this worksheet to practice creative writing style: 

Creative Writing Style Worksheet

6. Argumentative writing style

The purpose of argumentative writing is to present a reasoned argument in favor of a particular position or point of view. This style of writing is analytical and persuasive. It requires the writer to clearly articulate their stance on an issue and support it with evidence, logic, and reasoning. Argumentative writing uses facts and logic, not emotions, to persuade. It encourages critical thinking by presenting multiple viewpoints and debunking opposing arguments.

Argumentative writing is critical in areas such as academic research , opinion-editorial pieces, argumentative essays , legal cases, and public debates.

An example of argumentative writing style: 

An editorial arguing for the preservation of historical buildings.

The city council must act now to protect our historic buildings. These structures are not mere edifices of brick and mortar; they are the embodiment of our community’s rich heritage and cultural identity. Critics may argue that development is essential for economic growth, but must progress come at the cost of our past? Surely, we can find a balance that honors both our history and our future aspirations. Preserving these landmarks is not a blockade to modernization—it is an act of respect for the narrative that has shaped us.

The editorial presents a clear argument for the preservation of historic buildings, addressing potential counterarguments about economic development and proposing a balanced solution. 

Use this worksheet to practice argumentative writing style: 

Argumentative Writing Style Worksheet 

Tips for adapting your writing style

• Know your purpose:   Make sure you know what you want to accomplish with your writing.
• Understand your audience: Adjust your style to fit the people who will read your writing.
• Use appropriate language: Choose words that match your audience and purpose, whether that means using formal or informal language, technical terms, or simpler words.
• Maintain Flexibility: Be ready to adjust your writing based on feedback and how well it’s working.
• Practice Consistently: The more you write, the better you’ll get at adjusting your style naturally.

Adapting to a writing style will give an edge to your writing and make your work stand out. Remember, adapting your writing style is not about losing your voice; it’s about expressing your ideas most effectively for a particular context.

Whatever your writing style, always make sure to revise and edit your writing to keep it perfect. As experts in editing and proofreading services , PaperTrue can help you make your writing flawless and error-free!

Want to read more? Here are some articles for you:

• 10 Best Content Editing Tools and Software (Free + Paid)
• The Top 10 Online Proofreading Services of 2024
• Top 10 Essay Writing Tools in 2024 | Plan, Write, Get Feedback

Frequently Asked Questions

What are writing styles, what are some common writing styles, how do i choose the right writing style, can writing styles be combined, how can i develop my own writing style.

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Definition of Style

Types of style, expository or argumentative style, descriptive style, persuasive style.

Persuasive style of writing is a category of writing in which the writer tries to give reasons and justification to make the readers believe his point of view . The persuasive style aims to persuade and convince the readers.

Narrative Style

Short examples of style in sentences, parts/elements of style in literature, examples of style in literature, example #1: the pleasures of imagination by joseph addison.

“The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are not so gross as those of sense. … A man of polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures … A man should endeavour, therefore, to make the sphere of his innocent pleasures as wide as possible, that he may retire into them with safety … Delightful scenes, whether in nature, painting, or poetry, have a kindly influence on the body, as well as the mind, and not only serve to clear and brighten the imagination, but are able to disperse grief and melancholy …”

Example #2: Summer Shower By Emily Dickinson

“ A drop fell on the apple tree , Another on the roof, And made the gables laugh, The breezes brought dejected lutes, And bathed them in the glee; And signed the fete away.”

This poem gives an example of a descriptive style. Ms. Dickinson describes a summer rainstorm in detail, with beautiful images, so that the readers can visualize this storm in their own minds as if it is actually happening.

Example #3: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three.’ By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp’st thou me? The bridegroom’s doors are opened wide, … The guests are met, the feast is set: Mayst hear the merry din.”

Example #4: Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde

“The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden… The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through… or circling with monotonous insistence…”

This is a good example of descriptive writing style since the author gives visualizations, feelings, descriptions of a location, and details about bees that could be seen and heard.

Example #5: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain

“Pretty soon it darkened up and begun to thunder and lighten; so the birds was right about it … and here would come a blast of wind that would bend the trees down and turn up the pale underside of the leaves …”

Example #6: The Raven By Edgar Allen Poe

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary… And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted – nevermore!”

Here, the poet crafts a story of longing and desolation. The poem reads like a tale, containing a proper beginning, middle, and end. It has narrative elements like characterization , symbols , plot elements, and resolution that make it dramatic.

Example #7: Smoke By Henry David Thoreau

“Light-winged Smoke! Icarian bird, Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight; Lark without song, and messenger of dawn, Circling above the hamlets as thy nest; Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts; By night star-veiling, and by day Darkening the light and blotting out the sun; Go thou, my incense, upward from this hearth, And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.”

Function of Style

Synonyms of style, related posts:, post navigation.

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The 4 Main Types of Writing Styles and How to Use Them as a Writer

Understanding the 4 main types of writing styles can help you grow as a writer and attract an audience for your written work. Here’s how to identify each style of writing and tips for using each of the 4 common writing styles to develop your written skills.

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One of the things that can help you grow as a writer is to learn the 4 main types of writing styles and use the characteristics of each to further develop your own personal voice as a writer.

By learning how to use the different writing styles in your work, you will not only improve your skills as writer, but also learn ways to better connect with your audience of readers.

In this post we’ll cover the 4 main types of writing styles and how to use them as a writer to create compelling books, stories, essays, poetry, articles and more.

What are Writing Styles?

Writing styles are basically another way of saying the form or type of written work you are creating. Think of it as a classification for being able to identify what kind of writing you are creating.

For example, if you are writing a cookbook, that is a completely different style of writing than if you were writing a steamy romance novel!

Each writing style has a different purpose – and therefore, different characteristics are present when you are writing each type of different work.

Now that we understand what a writing style is – let’s talk about the 4 main writing styles which are commonly talked about amongst writers and literary educators.

The 4 Main Writing Styles & What They Mean

The four main writing styles which are commonly recognized are expository , descriptive , narrative , and persuasive .

Style #1: Expository

The definition of expository is this: “intended to explain or describe something.”

Most types of written work that fall into this category explain something in more detail, or provide insight and instruction in regards to a particular topic.

What types of writing fall into this category of expository writing style?

While there are many different types of written work which can be categorized as expository style of writing, you can often identify this type of writing by noticing the purpose of the work.

• Does the work intend to explain something in more detail?
• Does the written piece inform?
• Does the written piece answer questions such as “what, how and why?”

Here are some examples of the different types of writing pieces which can fall into the category of expository writing:

• Newspaper and Magazine Articles {not including editorials}
• Non-Fiction Books
• How-To Books
• Self Help Books
• Writing about Hobbies & Interests
• Recipes & Cookbooks
• Instructional Guides
• Scientific Research
• Textbooks & Educational Resources
• Business Articles & Books
• Medical Research, Journals and Articles

When you write expository style pieces, your main goal as a writer is to inform your readers with insight and facts that pertain to the subject of your piece.

For example, if you are writing about the history of ice cream, you would be including a lot of research and fun facts into your piece.

Note that this type of writing style is not intended to persuade or influence your audience. In writing your piece on the history of ice cream, you would NOT be trying to persuade your readers.

You would not want to say things like “Everybody should eat ice cream!” and “These 5 reasons will convince you forever to choose strawberry swirl flavored ice cream as your favorite flavor.”

Sometimes it can be confusing on whether an article is expository or persuasive. For example, an article called “The 5 Unexpected Health Benefits of Ice Cream” – would not fall into expository writing, even though it is providing information.

The word “benefits” has a positive connotation to the title. If you were to be writing an article on possible health benefits on ice cream, it would be very important that you as the writer keep your opinion separated from the facts and information if you plan for it to be an expository style piece. To be expository in nature, you would want to use a title such as “Scientists Research The Health Effects of Ice Cream.”

Books and articles that explain how to do something are also very popular examples of expository writing. Cookbooks are very popular, as they explain to others the tips, techniques, and recipes on how to cook something. How-to books for hobbies and crafts are also a good example of this type of writing.

Style #2: Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing goes deeper than expository writing. While expository writing might have some descriptive details and factual information, descriptive writing will make use of many writing elements and literary devices such as metaphors and similes.

The purpose and goal of descriptive writing is to bring your reader into the written work as if the reader were to be experiencing it first hand.

Most fictional pieces fall under the category of descriptive writing, and even some non-fiction pieces such as memoirs and creative non-fiction can fall under the category of a descriptive writing style.

If you are writing fiction, the more descriptive you can be with your words, the more relatable your story will be to the reader.

For example, we recommend that writers ask their characters questions as one way to really intimately understand the details about a character. Details about the setting, events, and people present in a story will help your readers be able to imagine and understand the piece.

This style also includes poetry. If you browse through some of our poetry writing prompts , you will see there is a lot of attention put on using details to create a scene or feeling in writing a poem!

Here are some examples of types of descriptive writing pieces:

• Poetry & Prose
• Travel Diaries
• Personal Journals
• Lyrics in Music and Songwriting

Most pieces using only a descriptive writing style are not very long. It is uncommon for a fictional novel to be 100% fully descriptive without getting into our next writing style, which is narrative writing.

Style #3: Narrative Writing

Narrative writing is far more complex that simple descriptive writing.

While a poem for example may describe a scene or even events or people – generally you do not get into the deep inner thoughts of the characters or even get a full story with a clear middle, beginning, and end complete with conflict and dialogue.

Nearly all fiction novels fall into the case of narrative writing, as well as longer epic poems and sagas.

In narrative writing, there is a story to be told – a clear plot complete with setting, characters, dialogue, conflict and resolution. A narrative piece often has a timeline or sequence of events which further build to the point of conflict and resolution.

Here are some examples of the works which would be considered to have a narrative writing style:

• Fiction Novels
• Memoirs & Biographies
• Screenplays
• Myths, Legends, and Fables
• Historical accounts
• Essays which talk about a lesson learned or valuable insight from an experience

Narrative writing pieces are generally easy to identify, although sometimes it can be confused with descriptive writing styles. The key difference in determining which one a written work might be is whether or not there is a developed storyline or plot.

If there is a well developed plot and storyline, you are most likely reading narrative writing.

Style #4: Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is a type of writing style where the purpose is to influence someone into believing or doing something. As the word “persuasive” suggests – your goal is to persuade someone’s actions or thoughts to align with your own goals as the writer.

The persuasive writing essay is a popular homework assignment for many kids. For example, a student might be assigned to write an essay to convince their parents of something. “Why We Should Get a Pet Rabbit” and “5 Reasons You Should Not Make Me Clean My Room”.

Persuasive writing is intended to convince someone of something, and so it usually needs to have a good bit of research and logical analysis – but also should attempt to make an emotional connection to the desired audience as well.

A classic piece of writing which serves as an example of persuasive writing is Thomas Paine’s book Common Sense , which was written in the Colonial times of the American Revolutionary War, urging citizens that separating from England was of utmost importance.

Here are some examples of types of writing which are persuasive writing:

• Editorial & Opinion pieces in Newspapers and Magazines
• Essays on a specific belief or “hot button” topic
• Letters written to request an action or file a complaint
• Advertisements {Convincing you to buy something}
• Copywriting {Note, copywriting is different from copyright!}
• Company Brochures
• Business Proposals
• Political speeches

When the intention of the work is to convince the audience of something – this falls into persuasive writing.

How to Use the 4 Main Different Writing Styles as a Writer

Now that we know the different types of writing styles, you may be wondering how do you use each style?

The first thing to do is think about what you are planning to write and what the intention is. What is your goal and what type of message are you trying to communicate to your readers?

Expository Style Writing:

In this type of writing your goal is to inform your readers about research or data.

When writing expository style pieces, follow these guidelines:

• Avoid using words which have a positive or negative connotation
• Do not insert your opinion or attempt to persuade your audience into thinking, feeling, or doing something based on your beliefs
• Use research and cite your sources
• When writing online, link to additional resources or websites
• Use quotes, illustrations or informative graphics to highlight the information
• Give concise and clear directions

Descriptive Writing Style:

This type of writing has the goal to describe something and bring into your reader’s imaginations

Here are some tips for writing with descriptive writing styles:

• Use literary devices such as metaphors and similes.
• Use well thought out adjectives and adverbs to describe nouns and verbs.
• Bring attention to small details
• Use the 6 senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, sound, and feeling

Narrative Writing Style:

In narrative writing style, your goal is to convey a storyline to your readers.

Here is how to achieve this type of writing style:

• Outline a storyline, plot or timeline sequence of events
• Include detailed descriptions of your characters and scenes
• Give your readers insight into the inner thoughts or behind-the-scenes information to elements of your story
• Answer the 6 W questions in your writing: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why?
• Make it so your piece of work conveys an important lesson or insight – what is the moral of the story? What was the outcome of this experience?
• Use concrete language which gives readers a specific image to visualize and relate to

Persuasive Writing Style:

When you are writing to persuade, your intention is to convince your readers to side with you. This can be as simple as convincing them to buy your latest new product, or even writing about important social and humanitarian issues.

Here are some tips for writing persuasively:

• Include information, data, and facts to back up your argument
• Cite your sources and give readers access to additional information
• Appeal to your readers on an emotional level – how will siding with your opinion connect with them and make them feel?
• Take into consideration your reader’s needs, wants, and desires and how your message will help your reader achieve these.

Understanding Writing Styles Can Help You Be a Better Writer

No matter what type of writing you enjoy creating – understanding the basic main 4 types of writing styles can help you become a better writer.

If you are writing a how-to article for example, you will be able to understand what types of elements to ensure your piece of work includes. If you’re writing a descriptive poem, knowing what type of language to use can help convey your message for abstract concepts.

Use these different writing styles as a fun writing exercise!

Even if you typically only write for one style, it can be a lot of fun to push yourself to try to write for the different types of styles. For example, try writing a persuasive essay, and then a descriptive essay on the same topic. It can also be fun to write a descriptive poem and then turn it into a narrative essay or short story.

Not sure what to write about using these different writing styles? We have TONS of ideas for you with many different writing prompts! Check out our list of 365 writing prompts ideas which are sure to inspire your creative muse!

Using prompts is a great way to help you start writing in different writing styles and push yourself to a new exciting challenge for your writing skills!

I hope this article about the different writing styles and how you can use them as a writer will be helpful for you in building and developing your written skillset.

What types of writing styles do you enjoy writing the most? Have any tips for writing in expository, descriptive, narrative or persuasive styles of writing? We’d love to hear your ideas and experiences in the comments section below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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The 8 Types of Writing Styles (+ Definition & Examples)

by Sam Driver

on Jun 13, 2024

Are you ready to transform your writing from bland to captivating?

Do you want to engage your audience and leave them yearning for more?

Then buckle up because we’re about to explore 10 writing styles that’ll take your narrative to the next level!

But first, let’s cover the basics…

What is a Writing Style?

A writing style is like your unique fingerprint. It’s the distinct way you weave words together, the tone you set, the vibe you create.

Think of it as the secret sauce that makes your writing stand out from the crowd.

But why should you care?

Because mastering different writing styles allows you to:

• Engage your target audience on a deeper level
• Convey your message with clarity and impact
• Establish your unique voice and personal brand
• Adapt your writing to different purposes and platforms

So, whether you’re crafting a blog post , penning your first book , or writing a social media post , understanding writing styles is key.

8 Different Types of Writing Styles to Master in 2024 (& Beyond)

Now you have a firm understanding of what a writing style is, it’s time for the main event.

So, without further ado and in no particular order, let’s journey through the diverse writing styles, starting with…

1. Persuasive Writing

• Sales letters
• Political speeches

Persuasive writing is all about convincing your reader to take a specific action or adopt a certain viewpoint. 

It’s the style you’ll often find in sales pages, advertisements , and copywriting .

To nail persuasive writing:

• Use logic, emotions, and credibility to make your case
• Anticipate and address counterarguments
• Emphasize benefits and value for the reader
• Use strong calls-to-action

Now, let’s examine an example of this writing style in action for a life coaching program.

“Our life coaching program can help you wake up every morning with a sense of purpose and passion.  It has a proven track record and good testimonials. It’s a good investment in yourself.  Sign up now and start transforming your life.”

After adding a touch of persuasive writing…

“Imagine waking up every morning with a sense of purpose and passion. That’s what our life coaching program can do for you.  With a proven track record and glowing testimonials, it’s the investment in yourself you’ve been waiting for.  Don’t let another day go by feeling stuck — sign up now and start transforming your life today!”

Notice the difference?

The persuasive style transforms a bland description into an irresistible offer that tugs at readers’ emotions and desires.

2. Creative Writing

Next up, let’s dive into the enchanting world of creative writing . 

This is where you let your imagination run wild, crafting captivating content that transports readers to another realm.

To master creative writing :

• Show, don’t tell — use vivid imagery , and sensory details
• Develop interesting, multi-dimensional characters
• Create compelling plots with conflict and resolution
• Experiment with literary devices like metaphors and symbolism

Let’s see how a simple scene can be transformed with a dash of creative writing magic.

Before… 

“Sarah approached the old, abandoned house. She felt scared. She reached for the doorknob, not knowing what was inside.”

And after… 

“The old house stood at the end of the street, its windows boarded up and its paint peeling.  As Sarah approached, a chill ran down her spine.  She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching her from behind those weathered walls.  With a trembling hand, she reached for the rusted doorknob, not knowing that what awaited her inside would change her life forever.”

See how creative writing breathes life into a scene, making it more immersive and engaging?

3. Expository Writing

• Instructions
• News articles

Moving on, let’s explore the realm of the expository writing style.  

So, what is it?

Well, expository writing aims to inform, explain, or describe a topic, and it’s often used in textbooks, news articles, and how-to guides.

To excel at expository writing:

• Present information in a clear, logical manner
• Break down complex topics into easier-to-understand parts
• Use examples and analogies to illustrate points
• Maintain an objective, impartial tone

Let’s take a look at how expository writing can make a complex topic more digestible using this statement… 

“Photosynthesis is when plants use sunlight to make energy. It happens in the leaves. Chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and makes glucose and oxygen.”

Now, let’s add a bit of expository writing…

“Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy. It takes place primarily in the leaves, where specialized structures called chloroplasts contain a green pigment called chlorophyll. This chlorophyll absorbs sunlight, which kicks off a series of chemical reactions. 

The end result is glucose, which the plant uses as food, and oxygen, which is released into the air.”

The unique writing style breaks down the process of photosynthesis into clear, easy-to-follow steps, making it more accessible and digestible to the reader.

4. Narrative Writing

• Short stories
• Autobiography

Narrative writing tells a story , whether it’s a personal anecdote, a fictional tale, or a historical account.

So, to craft a compelling narrative:

• Establish a clear story structure with a beginning, middle, and end
• Use dialogue to bring characters to life
• Create a strong sense of setting and atmosphere
• Employ a consistent point of view (first person, third person, etc.)

Now, how can narrative writing transform a simple anecdote into a captivating story? 

Well, let’s take a look at an example…

“I got married on a day I’ll never forget. I was nervous but happy. We had faced challenges but overcame them. It was the start of our love story.”

After adding a pinch of narrative writing… 

“It was a day I’ll never forget.  As I stood at the altar, my heart racing, I looked into the eyes of the person I was about to marry.  In that moment, all the challenges we had faced to get to this point — the distance, the disapproval of others, the self-doubt — melted away.  I knew that this was exactly where I was meant to be and that our love story was only just beginning.”

The narrative writing style adds depth and emotion to the story, making it more engaging and relatable to the reader.

5. Descriptive Writing

• Review writing
• Travel Writing
• Product Descriptions

The descriptive writing style is all about painting a vivid picture with your words. It uses sensory details and figurative language to create a strong sense of setting, character, or mood .

To create powerful descriptive writing:

• Engage all five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch)
• Use precise, evocative language
• Employ literary devices like similes and metaphors
• Create a strong sense of mood and atmosphere

Let’s see how descriptive writing can transport the reader to a different place and time.

“I walked on the beach. The sand was golden and the water was blue. There was a nice breeze. Seagulls were flying. I felt peaceful.”

After… 

“The beach stretched out before me, a ribbon of golden sand kissed by turquoise waves.  The salty breeze danced through my hair as seagulls soared overhead, their cries mingling with the distant crash of the surf.  With each step, my toes sank into the sun-warmed sand, and I felt a sense of peace wash over me.  It was as if the ocean itself was whispering, ‘Welcome home.’”

The descriptive writing style brings the scene to life, immersing the reader in the sights, sounds, and sensations of the beach.

6. Academic Writing

• Research papers
• Personal statements

Next on our list is the academic writing style. It’s most commonly used in research papers, scholarly articles, and academic essays. 

Essentially, It’s characterized by a formal tone, precise language, and a clear, logical structure.

To succeed in academic writing:

• Use precise, discipline-specific terminology
• Cite reputable sources to support arguments
• Maintain a formal, impartial tone
• Structure arguments logically with clear transitions

Let’s see how academic writing can make a research finding more credible and authoritative with an example…

“This study looked at how social media affects teenagers’ self-esteem. 200 teenagers took a survey about their social media use and self-esteem. The results showed that using social media a lot was related to lower self-esteem scores.”

And after adding academic writing…

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between social media use and self-esteem among adolescents.  A sample of 200 participants aged 13-18 completed an online survey assessing daily social media usage and self-esteem levels using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965).  Results indicated a significant negative correlation between time spent on social media and self-esteem scores (r = -.68, p < .01).  These findings suggest that excessive social media use may have detrimental effects on adolescent self-esteem.” This style lends credibility to the research findings, making them more persuasive and trustworthy.

7. Technical Writing

• White papers
• User manuals
• Scientific writing

Technical writing (or business writing) aims to explain complex topics in a clear, concise way. To write effective technical pieces:

• Use simple, direct language
• Break processes into clear, sequential steps
• Employ visual aids like diagrams and flowcharts
• Define technical terms and acronyms

Let’s see how technical writing can make a complex process easier to understand with another example…

“To install the software, download the file and double-click it. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard. Choose where you want to install it. Wait for it to finish, then click ‘Finish’ to open the software.”

“To install the software, first download the setup file from our website. Double-click the file to begin the installation process.  Click ‘Next’ to proceed through the setup wizard, accepting the license terms when prompted.  Choose your desired installation location, then click ‘Install.’ The process may take several minutes.  Once complete, click ‘Finish’ to exit the wizard and launch the software.”

The technical writing style breaks down the installation process into clear, easy-to-follow steps, making it more accessible to the reader.

8. Conversational Writing

• Social media

Conversational writing creates a casual, relatable tone that makes the reader feel like they’re having a dialogue with the writer. 

To nail conversational writing:

• Write like you talk, using contractions and simple language
• Ask questions and use second-person pronouns to engage the reader
• Inject personality and humor where appropriate
• Use short paragraphs and sentences for easy readability

Let’s see how conversational writing can make a message more engaging and relatable with an example email…

“It’s June already. Time goes by fast. I have some exciting news to share with you next week. Make sure to check your email. You don’t want to miss it.”

After adding the magic of conversational writing… 

“Hey there! Can you believe it’s already June?  Time sure flies when you’re having fun (or stuck in a never-ending cycle of work-eat-sleep, am I right?).  But hey, summer’s just around the corner, and I’ve got some exciting news to share with you.  We’ve been cooking up some super cool stuff behind the scenes, and I can’t wait to spill the beans.  Keep an eye on your inbox next week for all the juicy details.  Trust me, you won’t want to miss this!”

The conversational writing style makes the message more friendly and relatable, creating a stronger connection with the reader.

How to Develop Your Own Writing Style

Every writer has a unique voice, but understanding a different writing style can help refine that voice and ensure your message resonates with your target audience .

So, here’s my first writing tip…

Write Everyday

One of the best ways to develop your writing style is to make writing a daily habit and journal . Set aside dedicated time each day to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and establish your “writing center.”

It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece — the goal is to get your creative juices flowing and to become more comfortable with the act of writing itself.

You see, the more you write, the more your unique voice will emerge and the more confident you’ll become in crafting compelling content.

Embrace Your Life Experiences

Your life experiences, quirks, and perspectives are what make your writing style uniquely yours.

So, don’t be afraid to infuse your writing with your personality and to draw from the rich tapestry of your own life.

Think about the stories you love to tell, the lessons you’ve learned, and the insights you’ve gained.

These elements will give your writing depth, authenticity, and relatability.

Simply Practice, Practice, Practice

Like any skill, developing your writing style takes practice. The more you write, the more you’ll discover what works for you and what doesn’t.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles, voices, and techniques. Step out of your comfort zone and try your hand at a genre or format you’ve never tackled before.

Take writing courses, attend workshops, and read widely to expose yourself to various styles and perspectives.

Ready to Master Your Writing Styles?

Whew, you’ve made it!

What you’ve gained from this journey is a powerful arsenal of writing techniques to enchant your readers, discover your writing style, and build your own style guide.

As you continue to practice, the transformation in your writing skills will be evident, and the reward?

A captivated audience hanging on to every word you write.

GET PAID TO WRITE

A "cheat sheet" to making 2-5k per month as a writer,  even if you're a total beginner ..

Written by Sam Driver

1 thought on “the 8 types of writing styles (+ definition & examples)”.

I love using conversational writing on my blog Sam. This comes easily when I visualize myself chatting with my readers in a room, sitting down comfortably to bond in an offline setting. Picture yourself talking to your readers offline before writing posts. Works like a charm; plus, chatting casually removes much pressure from the blogging process.

Most bloggers struggle to find their style. I feel like most try to fit inside of a writing box with all types of rules, regulations and restrictions. Robotic writing follows. Stiff writing rarely inspires anyone.

Writing patiently helps one to hammer out their writing voice. From there, the individual style arises, usually being one of the 10 on your smart list.

Descriptive writing is quite fun. Painting images with words requires steady mindfulness but the mental gymnastics makes for an enjoyable, playful experience.

Excellent post, as always on Smart Blogger.

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Creative Writing Styles: Pros, Cons & Guide

What are creative writing styles, prose writing style: pros & cons, poetry writing style: pros & cons, playwriting style: pros & cons, screenwriting style: pros & cons, journalism writing style: pros & cons, blogging style: pros & cons, copywriting style: pros & cons, guide on how to choose a writing style.

Imagine having a toolbox. Inside this toolbox, you have different tools, each with its unique purpose. Similarly, as a writer, you have a toolbox filled with various writing styles. Each style has its benefits and drawbacks and serves a unique purpose. Today, we'll explore these different creative writing styles, their benefits and drawbacks, and how you can select the right tools for your writing project.

Just like an artist uses oil paints or charcoal to create a masterpiece, a writer uses different writing styles to craft their work. So, what exactly are these styles? There's no one-size-fits-all definition. However, we can think of writing styles as the way you express your thoughts and ideas on paper. Each style has its own distinct characteristics, rules, and conventions. Let's dive into the benefits and drawbacks of different creative writing styles.

• Prose Writing: This style is your everyday, run-of-the-mill writing. It's what you find in novels, short stories, and essays. It's straightforward, with the words flowing in sentences and paragraphs, just like the water in a river.
• Poetry Writing: Poetry is the songbird of writing styles. It uses rhythm, rhyme, and imagery to convey emotions and ideas. It's the style you turn to when you want to capture the heartbeat of a moment.
• Playwriting: As the name suggests, this style is all about writing for the stage. It's about creating dialogues and actions that actors will perform. If you've ever dreamed of seeing your words come to life, playwriting is the style for you.
• Screenwriting: This style is similar to playwriting but for the screen—be it a television, cinema, or even YouTube. It involves writing scripts for films, TV shows, and online videos.
• Journalism: Journalism writing is about reporting facts in a simple, clear, and concise manner. It's the style you'd use to write news articles, features, and interviews.
• Blogging: Blogging is a casual and conversational style of writing. It's like having a chat with your readers over a cup of coffee. Blogging is perfect for sharing personal experiences, opinions, and advice.
• Copywriting: Last but not least, copywriting is the art of selling with words. It's the style you see in advertisements, sales letters, and marketing campaigns. This style aims to persuade and convince readers to take a specific action, like buying a product or signing up for a newsletter.

Now that we've unpacked the different writing styles, let's delve deeper into each one's benefits and drawbacks. This will help you choose the right style for your next writing project, be it a blog post, a poem, or a screenplay.

Ever thought of writing a novel or a short story? Then, you should consider the prose writing style. It's like cooking a hearty stew— you mix a variety of ingredients, let them simmer, and serve a delicious dish. Now, let's look at the benefits and drawbacks of this creative writing style.

• Freedom of Expression: The prose style gives you the liberty to express your thoughts and ideas without the restrictions of rhythm, rhyme, or meter. It's like painting on a blank canvas, where you are free to explore and experiment.
• Complexity and Depth: Prose allows for the development of complex characters, intricate plots, and detailed settings. It's a style where you can delve deep into the human psyche, societal issues, or even the mysteries of the universe.
• Accessibility: Prose is the most common and accessible form of writing. Its straightforward and familiar structure makes it easy for readers of all ages and backgrounds to understand and connect with your work.
• Length: Prose writing, especially novels and long-form essays, can be time-consuming and require significant commitment. It's like running a marathon, where you need to pace yourself and keep going, even when the finish line seems far away.
• Overwhelming Detail: While detail can be a strength, it can also be a drawback. Too much detail can overwhelm readers and slow down the pace of your story. Remember, not every leaf needs to be described, and not every thought needs to be explored.
• Difficulty in Standing Out: Given the abundance of prose, standing out can be a challenge. It requires a unique voice, a compelling story, and a mastery of the craft to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

There you have it— the benefits and drawbacks of the prose writing style. Remember, the key is to balance the freedom of expression with the discipline of storytelling. So, are you ready to pick up your pen and start your prose adventure?

Have you ever felt an emotion so deeply that it felt like a song? Poetry might be your ideal creative writing style. It's like dancing with words, where each step, each twirl, each pause, is filled with meaning. Let's explore the benefits and drawbacks of poetry.

• Emotional Impact: Poetry is known for its ability to stir emotions. A well-crafted verse can make your readers feel joy, sorrow, wonder, and even a sense of camaraderie. It's a style where a few words can leave a deep impact.
• Conciseness: Poetry forces you to say more with less. It's like packing a suitcase for a trip— you can only take what's essential. This brevity can lead to powerful and memorable writing.
• Creative Freedom: While there are many forms of poetry, there are no hard and fast rules. You can experiment with rhythm, rhyme, structure, and even invent your own poetic form. It's a playground for your creativity.
• Difficulty in Communication: The abstract nature of poetry can make it difficult for some readers to understand. It's like a coded message that needs deciphering. This can limit the reach and impact of your work.
• Stigma: Unfortunately, poetry is often seen as highbrow or inaccessible, which can deter some readers. It's a misconception that you, as a poet, will need to challenge and overcome.
• Monetization: Let's face it— poetry is not the most lucrative writing style. Most poets write for the love of the craft rather than financial gain.

There you have it— the benefits and drawbacks of the poetry writing style. Remember, at the heart of poetry is emotion. So, are you ready to write your heart out and let your words dance?

If you've ever been swept up in the world of a stage play, you know the power of this form of writing. But what are the benefits and drawbacks of this creative writing style? Let's break down the pros and cons of playwriting.

• Collaborative Creativity: One of the unique advantages of playwriting is the opportunity to work with directors, actors, and designers to bring your words to life. It's a team effort where each person adds their own flavor to your dish.
• Immediate Audience Feedback: When your work is performed live, you get immediate reactions from the audience. It's like a conversation where you speak through your play, and the audience responds with laughter, gasps, or applause.
• Dynamic Storytelling: In playwriting, you can use dialogue, stage directions, and physical action to tell your story. It's like painting a picture where every element— the colors, the shapes, the brush strokes—contributes to the final image.
• Dependent on Performance: Your play's success is largely dependent on the performance. If the actors don't deliver your lines as intended, or if the director's vision doesn't match yours, your story may not come across as you hoped.
• Limited Scope: Unlike a novel, a play has to be performed in a specific space and time. This can limit the scope of your story. You might have to cut scenes or characters to fit the constraints of the stage.
• Inaccessibility: Not everyone has access to live theater, which means your potential audience is smaller. It's like cooking a delicious meal, but only a few people get to taste it.

So, there you have it— the benefits and drawbacks of the playwriting style. If you're a team player who loves the energy of live performance, this might be the writing style for you. Ready to take the stage?

Ever wondered what it's like to write the next big blockbuster or binge-worthy TV show? Let's take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of the screenwriting style, a unique form of storytelling that's all about visual drama.

• Vivid Visuals: Screenwriting allows you to create a powerful visual experience for your audience. You get to craft beautiful scenes, thrilling action sequences, and heart-tugging moments that can only be fully appreciated on screen.
• Wide Audience Reach: Films and TV shows are consumed by millions around the world. This means your story has the potential to reach more people than most other forms of writing.
• High Rewards: Successful screenwriters can earn significant financial and critical recognition, from hefty paychecks to prestigious awards like the Oscars.
• Highly Competitive: The film and TV industry is extremely competitive. Landing a screenwriting gig requires not just talent, but also persistence, networking, and a bit of luck.
• Restricted Creative Control: Screenwriters often have to compromise their vision to meet the demands of producers, directors, and actors. Your original script might look very different by the time it's on screen.
• Strict Formatting: Screenwriting has specific formatting rules that can be challenging to learn and follow. It's like learning a new language—each scene heading, character name, and line of dialogue has its own place.

So, that's the screenwriting style for you. It's a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, but if you have a knack for visual storytelling and a passion for cinema, it can be a thrilling journey. So, are you ready for your close-up?

Ever thought about being the voice that informs the public about the happenings around the world? Journalism writing style is a unique blend of factual, concise, and compelling storytelling. Let's shed some light on the benefits and drawbacks of this writing style.

• Informative & Impactful: As a journalist, you have the power to inform, persuade, and change public opinion. Your words can have a significant impact on society.
• Dynamic Field: Journalism is fast-paced and ever-changing. There's always a fresh story to cover, making it a vibrant and exciting field to work in.
• Explore Various Topics: Whether it's politics, sports, fashion, or technology—the list is endless. You get to delve into diverse topics, expanding your knowledge and understanding along the way.
• High Pressure: Being a journalist can be stressful. There are tight deadlines, and the need to be the first to break the news can create immense pressure.
• Fact-Checking: It's very important to verify every piece of information before publication. Mistakes can damage your credibility and have serious consequences.
• Unpredictable Hours: News doesn't follow a 9-5 schedule, and neither do journalists. This job can demand long, unpredictable hours, which may interfere with personal life.

There you have it, the journalism writing style. It's not for the faint-hearted, but if you have a nose for news and a desire to make a difference, it's a rewarding profession that keeps you on your toes.

Have you ever thought about sharing your personal experiences, insights or expertise with the world? That's what blogging is all about. Let's dive into the benefits and drawbacks of the blogging writing style.

• Freedom of Expression: Blogging offers a platform to express your thoughts, feelings, and ideas. You can write about anything you're passionate about, making it a highly personalized form of writing.
• Building a Community: Through your blog, you can connect with like-minded individuals, creating a supportive community that shares your interests. It's a great way to engage with others and expand your network.
• Potential Income: If your blog gains a substantial following, it can become a source of income. From advertising, affiliate marketing to selling products or services - the possibilities are many!
• Time Consuming: Maintaining a blog requires a considerable amount of time and effort. From creating content, responding to comments, to promoting your blog - it's a significant commitment.
• Slow Progress: Building a successful blog doesn't happen overnight. It can take months, even years, of consistent effort to gain a significant following and start earning.
• Writer's Block: Coming up with fresh, engaging content regularly can be challenging. Blogger's block is real and can be a major hurdle to overcome.

So, that's the blogging writing style. If you enjoy sharing your experiences, opinions or expertise and don't mind putting in the work, blogging can be a rewarding venture that allows you to connect with the world on your terms.

Ever seen an advertisement that made you want to buy that product right away? That's the power of copywriting. Let's explore the benefits and drawbacks of the copywriting style.

• Direct Impact: Copywriting is all about persuasion. A well-crafted copy can compel readers to take action, whether it's buying a product, signing up for a service, or subscribing to a newsletter.
• High Demand: Good copywriters are always in demand. Every business, from small startups to multinational corporations, needs compelling copy to sell their products or services.
• Creative Freedom: Copywriting allows you to flex your creative muscles. You can play with words, use puns, tell stories - whatever it takes to engage your audience and get your message across.
• High Pressure: As a copywriter, your work directly affects a company's bottom line. This pressure to deliver results can be stressful.
• Tight Deadlines: Copywriting often involves working under tight deadlines. You need to be able to think on your feet and create compelling content quickly.
• Revisions: Copywriters often have to make multiple revisions based on client feedback. This can be time-consuming and sometimes frustrating.

So, that's the copywriting style. If you have a knack for persuasion and don't mind working under pressure, copywriting could be the perfect fit for you, allowing you to combine your creativity with a business-oriented approach.

Choosing a writing style is like picking the right pair of shoes. You want something that not only fits but also complements your style and purpose. The question is, with so many options available, how do you choose the right one? Here are a few tips to help you make the right choice:

Consider Your Purpose: What do you aim to achieve with your writing? Are you looking to inform, entertain, persuade, or narrate a story? Your purpose will help guide your choice. For instance, if you're looking to inform, journalism or blogging style might be best. If you're aiming to persuade, copywriting could be your go-to.

Analyze Your Audience: Who are you writing for? Different audiences prefer different styles. For example, a younger audience might prefer a casual blogging style, whereas a professional audience might appreciate a more formal journalism style.

Play to Your Strengths: Do you have a knack for vivid descriptions? Prose might be your style. Are you good at expressing emotions? Poetry could be your forte. Do you excel at writing dialogue? Consider playwriting or screenwriting.

Experiment: Don't be afraid to try different styles. Write a blog post one day, a poem the next. You'll never know what you're good at until you give it a go.

Remember, there's no 'one-size-fits-all' when it comes to writing styles. The beauty of writing lies in its diversity. So, don't be afraid to explore the benefits and drawbacks of different creative writing styles until you find the one that fits you like a glove.

If you're interested in exploring different creative writing styles and techniques, don't miss the workshop ' Writing From Memory - Part 1 ' by Charlie Brogan. This workshop will help you tap into your personal experiences and memories as a source of inspiration for your writing, adding authenticity and depth to your work.

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6 Types of Writing Styles Every Writer Should Know

If you’ve got decent writing skills, you’re armed with the ability to inspire, entertain, persuade, and instruct. You can help others explore an entirely new point of view, immerse readers in an unfamiliar world, and make complicated knowledge more accessible.

No doubt about it. There’s tremendous power in writing. At least, there is if you know how to adapt your technique for the goal you want to achieve.

That’s where writing styles come into play.

You see, the objective that guides your work should always inform the way you write; you’d likely use different words for a business letter than you would for a poem. Your sentence structure, rhythm, and pace would be different, too. 

Those distinctions are what define different types of writing styles. And when you know how to name and categorize those different styles, you’re better prepared to discuss your craft as an author, your assignments as a student, or your qualifications as a professional.

So let’s take a tour of the most common types of writing styles. In this article, you’ll learn all about:

• Narrative writing
• Descriptive writing
• Expository writing
• Persuasive writing
• Technical writing
• Creative writing

You’ll get to know the goals for each one, see a few examples, and even pick up a few tricks for mastering the style.

Before we get into all that, I’d like to clear up one potential point of confusion:

Aren’t You Supposed to Find Your Own Writing Style?

If you spend much time around DabbleU or any place where people love talking about creative writing, you may have heard the term “writing style” referred to as an individual technique, rather than an entire category of written communication.

That’s because the literary world is confusing, and sometimes we use one word for two different things. Like sequel and sequel .

In creative writing, an author’s writing style is their own unique combination of voice , tone , diction , and syntax. It’s the literary fingerprint you develop over time, and you can learn how to do that here .

In this article, however, we’re talking about writing styles as broad categories that indicate what the author wants to achieve and how the piece should be written to achieve that goal.  

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s start exploring the six most common types of writing styles.

Narrative Writing

The goal of narrative writing is to tell a story. There’s a main character who confronts a challenge in their pursuit of a goal . The character makes choices that have consequences—good and/or bad—and it all comes to some sort of resolution . 

Most of the time, the purpose of the story is to entertain or connect with the reader on an emotional level. 

However, advertisers can use narrative writing to persuade consumers to buy a product. Historians can use it to highlight the humanity and modern relevance of past events. Speechwriters can tap into their narrative writing skills when they want to energize listeners with an inspiring tale.

This style of writing is so powerful because it engages the reader’s emotions and invites them to imagine unfamiliar experiences.

Narrative Writing Examples 

The most common forms of narrative writing include:

• Short stories
• Flash fiction
• Autobiographies /biographies
• Narrative nonfiction
• Narrative poetry

The goal of narrative writing is to draw the reader into the setting and immerse them in the story. That means this particular style uses dialogue , a lot of descriptive language, a distinctive voice, and a strong point of view. You know, stuff like:

Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it. – Night Watch

“‘You are,’ he says, ‘the absolute worst idea I've ever had.’” – Red, White, and Royal Blue

Narrative Writing Tips

To nail narrative writing, you need:

A main character readers will love - This usually means creating a blend of vulnerability , virtue, and flaws .

A compelling conflict - The stakes should be high for your main character, and the conflict should grow more serious as the story progresses.

Vivid sensory details - Strong imagery pulls your readers into the narrative and helps them empathize with your characters’ experiences.

Deeper meaning - Use the narrative to explore deeper themes your audience can connect to.

Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing aims to help readers imagine an environment, person, or experience. 

While all the other types of writing styles in this article can stand alone, descriptive writing is often used to support other styles.

For example, it comes in handy when you want to describe the setting of a novel. You could also use this style to paint a picture of your neighborhood at rush hour if you were writing a persuasive article about the need for more traffic lights in your town.  

Ultimately, the purpose of descriptive writing is to convey essential information or evoke specific emotions by creating an image in your readers’ minds.

Descriptive Writing Examples

You can find a ton of descriptive writing in fiction, like this:

“...by the time I met her she was already a rather bizarre old woman with shoulders rounded into two gentle humps and with white hair coiled around a sebaceous cyst the size of a pigeon egg crowning her noble head.” –The Stories of Eva Luna

You’ll also see it in nonfiction.

“A fox steps from the woods, its shoulders are bright, its narrow chest is as white as milk. The wild eyes stare at the geese. Daintily it walks to the pond’s edge, calmly it drinks.” – The Ponds  

You see descriptive writing pretty much everywhere description is needed.

Descriptive Writing Tips

Here are some quick suggestions for the next time you need to describe a scene like a pro:

Nail down what you really want to say - What do you want to communicate to your readers? What feelings or actions are you hoping to inspire? Choose words and images that will help create the mood and message you’re going for.

Engage the five senses - Use concrete details to conjure scents, sights, tastes, sounds, and physical sensations for your audience. This is the heart of the “show, don’t tell” rule. If you’re not familiar with it, you can learn about it here .

Stick to essential details - Rather than painting every detail, focus on the images that indicate the overall tone or theme. If you show the reader the morning glories winding up the trellis and offer them the scent of orange blossom on a soft breeze, they’ll fill in the rest of the picture themselves.

Expository Writing

In expository writing, the goal is to share information that’s relevant to the reader in the current context.

That is to say, this writing style is all about the facts: who, what, when, where, and why. 

Entire works can be categorized as expository writing. Textbooks fall under this category. So do news articles.

But you might sometimes hear the term “expository writing” used in relation to fiction, which is confusing, because the entire point of fiction is that it’s not based on fact.

In this context, expository writing—more commonly called “ exposition ”—refers to relevant information that would be considered factual within the world of the story.

More specifically, it’s additional information the reader needs in order to fully understand the narrative. For example, in a novel where the protagonist refuses to fall in love, details about their past heartbreak would count as expository writing.

Expository Writing Examples

This writing style includes things like:

• Instruction manuals
• News stories
• Encyclopedias
• Guides and how-to articles (like this one you’re reading!)

In the context of fiction, this style of writing looks like this:

“In Mallard, you grew up hearing stories about folks who’d pretended to be white. Warren Fontenot, riding a train in the white section, and when a suspicious porter questioned him, speaking enough French to convince him that he was a swarthy European...” – The Vanishing Half

That passage offers insight into the protagonist’s upbringing, shedding light on the way that character processes a situation she’ll wrestle with throughout the entire novel.

Expository Writing Tips

Here are some tricks for making sure your expository writing is clear, engaging, and relevant:

Know your audience - Your goal is to convey essential information, so make sure you speak in a language your readers will understand. This is especially true for textbooks and other educational materials.

Organize information logically - What does your reader need to understand first in order to understand everything else? How can you divulge this information as clearly as possible? If you’re writing fiction, at what point in the story would it be most helpful for your reader to gain this insight?

Stick to what matters - Resist the temptation to share everything you know on a given topic or—in the case of fiction—every little fact you’ve dreamed up. Only share what’s relevant to this reader at this moment.

Persuasive Writing

This is a fun one. In persuasive writing, your goal is to convince the reader of something.

Maybe you want them to take a certain action like buying a product, funding a nonprofit, or calling their representative. Maybe you just want them to see things your way. Whatever your specific objective is, the big idea is that you’re harnessing the power of language to make it happen.

In many cases, persuasive writing calls on several other types of writing styles. Narrative and descriptive writing can stir readers’ emotions, which can sway personal opinions and inspire action. And expository writing can play a persuasive role by providing compelling facts and statistics.

Persuasive Writing Examples

If someone is trying to get someone to act or think a certain way, it’s persuasive writing. That includes:

• Advertising in all its forms
• Cover letters
• Business proposals
• Grant proposals
• Query letters
• Product reviews
• Political speeches

You can even throw a little persuasive writing into your Nobel Prize speech if you want to, like so:

“Why do leaders accept that for children in developing countries, only basic literacy is sufficient, when their own children do homework in algebra, mathematics, science, and physics? Leaders must seize this opportunity to guarantee a free, quality, primary and secondary education for every child. Some will say this is impractical, or too expensive, or too hard. Or maybe even impossible. But it is time the world thinks bigger.” –Malala Yousafzai

Persuasive Writing Tips

Want to get your readers to do your bid—I mean, see things your way? Here are some tips for nailing a persuasive piece:

Empathize - Know your audience, including their dreams, fears, frustrations, and values. This allows you to meet them where they are and speak to their priorities.

Help them empathize with you - This is where those narrative and descriptive writing skills pay off. Paint a clear picture of your own experiences, challenges, fears, or visions for the future. Make it easy for your audience to see things from your perspective.

Provide supporting evidence - Emotional appeal is the secret to snagging your reader’s attention, but facts and figures will help them feel better about taking your side.

Technical Writing

Ready for the driest writing style on this list?

That’s not entirely fair. Technical writing can be fun. But it’s usually not. Fun is not the goal here. The only function of technical writing is to translate specialized knowledge into information that’s clear and accessible to the reader. 

User guides, company handbooks, case studies… these are all forms of technical writing.

In this particular style, there’s no need to spark emotion—in fact, that could hurt your goal of translating complex information. Technical writers rarely seek to convey a specific tone or write in an engaging voice. It’s just clear, direct instruction.

Technical Writing Examples

A lot of technical writing looks like this:

“From the Start Menu, open the Control Panel and select Sound.” –the Samson Q2U manual sitting on my desk

But it’s not all step-by-step instructions. Within this writing style, you’ll also find:

• E-learning content
• Case studies
• Academic writing
• Training manuals
• Corporate handbooks
• Corporate memos

…and pretty much anything else that demystifies techspeak or corporatespeak into something the average person can understand.

Technical Writing Tips

If you want to master this particular writing style, start with these tips:

Know your reader - The entire point of technical writing is to create clarity for your audience. So it’s essential that you understand what their current level of expertise is. That way, you won’t talk down to them or over their heads.

Use direct, precise language - Don’t worry about making it sound lovely. Fancy words and figurative language will only cloud your meaning.

Structure information logically - Think carefully about how you lay out knowledge. What details does your reader need to understand in order to make sense of the rest of the information?

Creative Writing

Creative writing is a massive category. It includes all work that emphasizes creativity and personal expression rather than conveying objective information.

Under the vast umbrella of creative writing, we have fiction, creative nonfiction , and poetry. Each of those categories includes multiple forms and genres. 

For example, novels, short stories, novellas, flash fiction, plays, and screenplays all fall under the heading of fiction. Within each of those sub-categories there are genres like science fiction and romance . 

There are even sub genres, but if you really want to get into all that, you can learn about it here .

All this to say, the term “creative writing” encompasses a lot . But, really, it all comes down to using words to communicate our subjective interpretations of what it means to be human.

Creative writing includes stuff like:

• Screenplays
• Personal essays
• Travel writing
• Nature writing

Because this writing style is all about experimenting with words to discuss abstract concepts like love and grief, creative writers tend to use a lot of literary devices and figurative language in their work. That results in engaging work like this:

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

“You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.” 

–”Wild Geese”

Creative Writing Tips

You can find just about all the creative writing tips you could possibly want in DabbleU . There are hundreds of articles in there, covering everything from choosing your story structure to avoiding purple prose .

But if you want a few quick tips before you browse DabbleU, here are some big ones:

Immerse the reader in your world - This is where that old “show, don’t tell” advice comes in handy. Whether you’re writing a fantasy novel , a personal essay, or a haiku, include specific, concrete details that help your audience disappear inside your universe.

Explore a theme - Even a whodunit written purely for funsies has something to say… about human nature, about trust, about the importance of small details. What’s the underlying message of your piece?

Find your voice - What unique perspective do you bring to your writing? What tone do you slip into naturally when you write? What type of diction do you tend to use? Work to find your voice, and you’ll be able to craft creative prose that is distinctly your own.

Master Your Writing Style

I hope this little romp through writing styles has given you enough clarity to feel like you can discuss each style like a pro. Or at least like an informed beginner.

Of course, as you may have guessed, there’s a lot more to learn. And if it’s creative writing you want to learn about, stick with us.

Not only are there hundreds of free articles available in DabbleU, but you can also have advice and inspiration sent directly to your inbox once a week! All you have to do is click here to sign up for our free newsletter—loads of knowledge, zero spam.

And, of course, a lot of style.

Abi Wurdeman is the author of Cross-Section of a Human Heart: A Memoir of Early Adulthood, as well as the novella, Holiday Gifts for Insufferable People. She also writes for film and television with her brother and writing partner, Phil Wurdeman. On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. When she’s not writing, Abi is most likely hiking, reading, or texting her mother pictures of her houseplants to ask why they look like that.

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Romance tropes are the heartbeat of what makes romance novels feel like cozy sweaters you want to snuggle into. Learn how to weave in these tropes to enhance your romance story!

What Is Style?

Definition & Examples of Style

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Style, to a creative writer, is essentially the way in which you write. It results from decisions a writer makes, such as word choice, tone, and syntax. It's the voice readers "hear" when they read your work.

Learn more about how style impacts writing, and the factors that impact writing styles.

The term "style" applies to writers much in the same way as it applies in other scenarios—it's the manner in which someone does something. A writer's style is the culmination of distinctive qualities that define their work. The words you use, the tone you develop, and the syntax of your sentences are perhaps the biggest factors in defining your writing style.

Style is unique, but it often also draws on literary traditions. For example, if someone uses simple, direct sentences with few adjectives, you might say their style of writing has been influenced by Ernest Hemingway. They probably don't write exactly as Hemingway did, but they follow in those stylistic traditions that have become associated with Hemingway.

How Does Style Work?

Your writing style will define your "voice." In other words, your writing style will determine the impact the piece has on readers. Two different writers can write about the exact same subject from the same point of view, but if they have different styles, their writing will have a different effect on the reader.

Even if you haven't studied writing extensively, you can naturally sense the differences between writing styles just by reading works by various authors. Word choice, sentence length, punctuation usage—these factors all have an impact on readers, even if they aren't actively assessing the piece to glean the writing style.

Naturally, your writing style may shift depending on your subject matter and the point of view . You wouldn't write a coming-of-age story from a teenager's point of view the same way you'd write a sci-fi novel about an alien invasion of Earth. However, when we talk about developing your writing style, we mean the voice that is uniquely yours. That voice will change as your writing develops, of course, but like your personality, the foundation remains there even as it develops and matures. That means, whether you're writing about teenagers or aliens, your unique voice will still come across in both works.

This idea becomes clear by reading professional writers' works. Hemingway didn't write about the same thing in every story, but you can recognize Hemingway's style in each piece. Whether you're reading about an old man in a boat, a bullfighter in Spain, or a soldier in World War I, the story is told with sparse language, short sentences, and powerfully minimalistic descriptions.

The Mechanics of Writing

There is a more technical definition of writing style, as well.

To an editor , style refers to the mechanics of writing, including grammar and punctuation. In this sense, "style" refers to the standardized rules that govern the correct way to write. These styles include the Associated Press (AP), Chicago, and Modern Language Association (MLA).

While creative writers should be intimately familiar with how to write in these technical styles, they aren't top of mind when they sit down to create prose or poetry. These technical styles create the frameworks within which creative writers can find their own style and voice. By adhering to some rules and purposefully breaking others, creative writers develop an individual approach to writing that has a unique effect on readers.

These technical rules change depending on what field you're in. For instance, a book publisher using Chicago style would italicize book titles. A journalist reporting on that same book would instead use quotation marks for the title as dictated by AP style guides. Literature students often use MLA style, which also italicizes book titles .

Key Takeaways

• Style, as it applies to creative writing, is the unique effect a writer has on readers.
• Style is dictated by factors including word choice, tone, and syntax.
• There are also technical writing styles, such as AP style and Chicago style, which standardize grammar and punctuation rules.
• What Does a Copy Editor Do?
• Pick the Best Writing Style Guide for Your Projects
• Important Writing and Editing Skills That Employers Value
• Top 12 Tips for Writing Dialogue
• The Importance of Crib Sheets in the Magazine Industry
• Tips for an Effective Creative Writing Critique
• Ways to Use Figurative Language in Writing
• What Voice Means in Writing
• Everything You Need to Know to Start a Home-Based Editing Business
• What Is Second-Person Point of View?
• Learn How to Write Fiction
• How to Use Metaphors Correctly and Avoid Cliches
• AP Style Cheat Sheet
• Becoming a Comic Book Letterer
• Tips to Help Write a Great Short Story
• How to Write Realistic Dialogue

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Last updated on Feb 14, 2023

10 Types of Creative Writing (with Examples You’ll Love)

A lot falls under the term ‘creative writing’: poetry, short fiction, plays, novels, personal essays, and songs, to name just a few. By virtue of the creativity that characterizes it, creative writing is an extremely versatile art. So instead of defining what creative writing is , it may be easier to understand what it does by looking at examples that demonstrate the sheer range of styles and genres under its vast umbrella.

To that end, we’ve collected a non-exhaustive list of works across multiple formats that have inspired the writers here at Reedsy. With 20 different works to explore, we hope they will inspire you, too. 

People have been writing creatively for almost as long as we have been able to hold pens. Just think of long-form epic poems like The Odyssey or, later, the Cantar de Mio Cid — some of the earliest recorded writings of their kind. 

Poetry is also a great place to start if you want to dip your own pen into the inkwell of creative writing. It can be as short or long as you want (you don’t have to write an epic of Homeric proportions), encourages you to build your observation skills, and often speaks from a single point of view . 

Here are a few examples:

“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

This classic poem by Romantic poet Percy Shelley (also known as Mary Shelley’s husband) is all about legacy. What do we leave behind? How will we be remembered? The great king Ozymandias built himself a massive statue, proclaiming his might, but the irony is that his statue doesn’t survive the ravages of time. By framing this poem as told to him by a “traveller from an antique land,” Shelley effectively turns this into a story. Along with the careful use of juxtaposition to create irony, this poem accomplishes a lot in just a few lines. 

“Trying to Raise the Dead” by Dorianne Laux

 A direction. An object. My love, it needs a place to rest. Say anything. I’m listening. I’m ready to believe. Even lies, I don’t care.

Poetry is cherished for its ability to evoke strong emotions from the reader using very few words which is exactly what Dorianne Laux does in “ Trying to Raise the Dead .” With vivid imagery that underscores the painful yearning of the narrator, she transports us to a private nighttime scene as the narrator sneaks away from a party to pray to someone they’ve lost. We ache for their loss and how badly they want their lost loved one to acknowledge them in some way. It’s truly a masterclass on how writing can be used to portray emotions. 

If you find yourself inspired to try out some poetry — and maybe even get it published — check out these poetry layouts that can elevate your verse!

Song Lyrics

Poetry’s closely related cousin, song lyrics are another great way to flex your creative writing muscles. You not only have to find the perfect rhyme scheme but also match it to the rhythm of the music. This can be a great challenge for an experienced poet or the musically inclined. 

To see how music can add something extra to your poetry, check out these two examples:

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen

 You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well, really, what's it to ya? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah 

Metaphors are commonplace in almost every kind of creative writing, but will often take center stage in shorter works like poetry and songs. At the slightest mention, they invite the listener to bring their emotional or cultural experience to the piece, allowing the writer to express more with fewer words while also giving it a deeper meaning. If a whole song is couched in metaphor, you might even be able to find multiple meanings to it, like in Leonard Cohen’s “ Hallelujah .” While Cohen’s Biblical references create a song that, on the surface, seems like it’s about a struggle with religion, the ambiguity of the lyrics has allowed it to be seen as a song about a complicated romantic relationship. 

“I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie

 ​​If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark

You can think of song lyrics as poetry set to music. They manage to do many of the same things their literary counterparts do — including tugging on your heartstrings. Death Cab for Cutie’s incredibly popular indie rock ballad is about the singer’s deep devotion to his lover. While some might find the song a bit too dark and macabre, its melancholy tune and poignant lyrics remind us that love can endure beyond death.

Plays and Screenplays

From the short form of poetry, we move into the world of drama — also known as the play. This form is as old as the poem, stretching back to the works of ancient Greek playwrights like Sophocles, who adapted the myths of their day into dramatic form. The stage play (and the more modern screenplay) gives the words on the page a literal human voice, bringing life to a story and its characters entirely through dialogue. 

Interested to see what that looks like? Take a look at these examples:

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

“I know you're no worse than most men but I thought you were better. I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father.” 

Arthur Miller acts as a bridge between the classic and the new, creating 20th century tragedies that take place in living rooms and backyard instead of royal courts, so we had to include his breakout hit on this list. Set in the backyard of an all-American family in the summer of 1946, this tragedy manages to communicate family tensions in an unimaginable scale, building up to an intense climax reminiscent of classical drama. 

💡 Read more about Arthur Miller and classical influences in our breakdown of Freytag’s pyramid . 

“Everything is Fine” by Michael Schur ( The Good Place )

“Well, then this system sucks. What...one in a million gets to live in paradise and everyone else is tortured for eternity? Come on! I mean, I wasn't freaking Gandhi, but I was okay. I was a medium person. I should get to spend eternity in a medium place! Like Cincinnati. Everyone who wasn't perfect but wasn't terrible should get to spend eternity in Cincinnati.” 

A screenplay, especially a TV pilot, is like a mini-play, but with the extra job of convincing an audience that they want to watch a hundred more episodes of the show. Blending moral philosophy with comedy, The Good Place is a fun hang-out show set in the afterlife that asks some big questions about what it means to be good. 

It follows Eleanor Shellstrop, an incredibly imperfect woman from Arizona who wakes up in ‘The Good Place’ and realizes that there’s been a cosmic mixup. Determined not to lose her place in paradise, she recruits her “soulmate,” a former ethics professor, to teach her philosophy with the hope that she can learn to be a good person and keep up her charade of being an upstanding citizen. The pilot does a superb job of setting up the stakes, the story, and the characters, while smuggling in deep philosophical ideas.

Personal essays

Our first foray into nonfiction on this list is the personal essay. As its name suggests, these stories are in some way autobiographical — concerned with the author’s life and experiences. But don’t be fooled by the realistic component. These essays can take any shape or form, from comics to diary entries to recipes and anything else you can imagine. Typically zeroing in on a single issue, they allow you to explore your life and prove that the personal can be universal.

Here are a couple of fantastic examples:

“On Selling Your First Novel After 11 Years” by Min Jin Lee (Literary Hub)

There was so much to learn and practice, but I began to see the prose in verse and the verse in prose. Patterns surfaced in poems, stories, and plays. There was music in sentences and paragraphs. I could hear the silences in a sentence. All this schooling was like getting x-ray vision and animal-like hearing. 

This deeply honest personal essay by Pachinko author Min Jin Lee is an account of her eleven-year struggle to publish her first novel . Like all good writing, it is intensely focused on personal emotional details. While grounded in the specifics of the author's personal journey, it embodies an experience that is absolutely universal: that of difficulty and adversity met by eventual success. 

“A Cyclist on the English Landscape” by Roff Smith (New York Times)

These images, though, aren’t meant to be about me. They’re meant to represent a cyclist on the landscape, anybody — you, perhaps. 

Roff Smith’s gorgeous photo essay for the NYT is a testament to the power of creatively combining visuals with text. Here, photographs of Smith atop a bike are far from simply ornamental. They’re integral to the ruminative mood of the essay, as essential as the writing. Though Smith places his work at the crosscurrents of various aesthetic influences (such as the painter Edward Hopper), what stands out the most in this taciturn, thoughtful piece of writing is his use of the second person to address the reader directly. Suddenly, the writer steps out of the body of the essay and makes eye contact with the reader. The reader is now part of the story as a second character, finally entering the picture.

Short Fiction

The short story is the happy medium of fiction writing. These bite-sized narratives can be devoured in a single sitting and still leave you reeling. Sometimes viewed as a stepping stone to novel writing, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Short story writing is an art all its own. The limited length means every word counts and there’s no better way to see that than with these two examples:

“An MFA Story” by Paul Dalla Rosa (Electric Literature)

At Starbucks, I remembered a reading Zhen had given, a reading organized by the program’s faculty. I had not wanted to go but did. In the bar, he read, "I wrote this in a Starbucks in Shanghai. On the bank of the Huangpu." It wasn’t an aside or introduction. It was two lines of the poem. I was in a Starbucks and I wasn’t writing any poems. I wasn’t writing anything. 

This short story is a delightfully metafictional tale about the struggles of being a writer in New York. From paying the bills to facing criticism in a writing workshop and envying more productive writers, Paul Dalla Rosa’s story is a clever satire of the tribulations involved in the writing profession, and all the contradictions embodied by systemic creativity (as famously laid out in Mark McGurl’s The Program Era ). What’s more, this story is an excellent example of something that often happens in creative writing: a writer casting light on the private thoughts or moments of doubt we don’t admit to or openly talk about. 

“Flowering Walrus” by Scott Skinner (Reedsy)

I tell him they’d been there a month at least, and he looks concerned. He has my tongue on a tissue paper and is gripping its sides with his pointer and thumb. My tongue has never spent much time outside of my mouth, and I imagine it as a walrus basking in the rays of the dental light. My walrus is not well. 

A winner of Reedsy’s weekly Prompts writing contest, ‘ Flowering Walrus ’ is a story that balances the trivial and the serious well. In the pauses between its excellent, natural dialogue , the story manages to scatter the fear and sadness of bad medical news, as the protagonist hides his worries from his wife and daughter. Rich in subtext, these silences grow and resonate with the readers.

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Perhaps the thing that first comes to mind when talking about creative writing, novels are a form of fiction that many people know and love but writers sometimes find intimidating. The good news is that novels are nothing but one word put after another, like any other piece of writing, but expanded and put into a flowing narrative. Piece of cake, right?

To get an idea of the format’s breadth of scope, take a look at these two (very different) satirical novels: 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I wished I was back in the convenience store where I was valued as a working member of staff and things weren’t as complicated as this. Once we donned our uniforms, we were all equals regardless of gender, age, or nationality — all simply store workers. 

Keiko, a thirty-six-year-old convenience store employee, finds comfort and happiness in the strict, uneventful routine of the shop’s daily operations. A funny, satirical, but simultaneously unnerving examination of the social structures we take for granted, Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman is deeply original and lingers with the reader long after they’ve put it down.

Erasure by Percival Everett

The hard, gritty truth of the matter is that I hardly ever think about race. Those times when I did think about it a lot I did so because of my guilt for not thinking about it.  

Erasure is a truly accomplished satire of the publishing industry’s tendency to essentialize African American authors and their writing. Everett’s protagonist is a writer whose work doesn’t fit with what publishers expect from him — work that describes the “African American experience” — so he writes a parody novel about life in the ghetto. The publishers go crazy for it and, to the protagonist’s horror, it becomes the next big thing. This sophisticated novel is both ironic and tender, leaving its readers with much food for thought.

Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is pretty broad: it applies to anything that does not claim to be fictional (although the rise of autofiction has definitely blurred the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction). It encompasses everything from personal essays and memoirs to humor writing, and they range in length from blog posts to full-length books. The defining characteristic of this massive genre is that it takes the world or the author’s experience and turns it into a narrative that a reader can follow along with.

Here, we want to focus on novel-length works that dig deep into their respective topics. While very different, these two examples truly show the breadth and depth of possibility of creative nonfiction:

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

Men’s bodies litter my family history. The pain of the women they left behind pulls them from the beyond, makes them appear as ghosts. In death, they transcend the circumstances of this place that I love and hate all at once and become supernatural. 

Writer Jesmyn Ward recounts the deaths of five men from her rural Mississippi community in as many years. In her award-winning memoir , she delves into the lives of the friends and family she lost and tries to find some sense among the tragedy. Working backwards across five years, she questions why this had to happen over and over again, and slowly unveils the long history of racism and poverty that rules rural Black communities. Moving and emotionally raw, Men We Reaped is an indictment of a cruel system and the story of a woman's grief and rage as she tries to navigate it.

Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker

He believed that wine could reshape someone’s life. That’s why he preferred buying bottles to splurging on sweaters. Sweaters were things. Bottles of wine, said Morgan, “are ways that my humanity will be changed.” 

In this work of immersive journalism , Bianca Bosker leaves behind her life as a tech journalist to explore the world of wine. Becoming a “cork dork” takes her everywhere from New York’s most refined restaurants to science labs while she learns what it takes to be a sommelier and a true wine obsessive. This funny and entertaining trip through the past and present of wine-making and tasting is sure to leave you better informed and wishing you, too, could leave your life behind for one devoted to wine. 

Illustrated Narratives (Comics, graphic novels)

Once relegated to the “funny pages”, the past forty years of comics history have proven it to be a serious medium. Comics have transformed from the early days of Jack Kirby’s superheroes into a medium where almost every genre is represented. Humorous one-shots in the Sunday papers stand alongside illustrated memoirs, horror, fantasy, and just about anything else you can imagine. This type of visual storytelling lets the writer and artist get creative with perspective, tone, and so much more. For two very different, though equally entertaining, examples, check these out:

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

"Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure." 

This beloved comic strip follows Calvin, a rambunctious six-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger/imaginary friend, Hobbes. They get into all kinds of hijinks at school and at home, and muse on the world in the way only a six-year-old and an anthropomorphic tiger can. As laugh-out-loud funny as it is, Calvin & Hobbes ’ popularity persists as much for its whimsy as its use of humor to comment on life, childhood, adulthood, and everything in between. 

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell 

"I shall tell you where we are. We're in the most extreme and utter region of the human mind. A dim, subconscious underworld. A radiant abyss where men meet themselves. Hell, Netley. We're in Hell." 

Comics aren't just the realm of superheroes and one-joke strips, as Alan Moore proves in this serialized graphic novel released between 1989 and 1998. A meticulously researched alternative history of Victorian London’s Ripper killings, this macabre story pulls no punches. Fact and fiction blend into a world where the Royal Family is involved in a dark conspiracy and Freemasons lurk on the sidelines. It’s a surreal mad-cap adventure that’s unsettling in the best way possible. 

Video Games and RPGs

Probably the least expected entry on this list, we thought that video games and RPGs also deserved a mention — and some well-earned recognition for the intricate storytelling that goes into creating them. 

Essentially gamified adventure stories, without attention to plot, characters, and a narrative arc, these games would lose a lot of their charm, so let’s look at two examples where the creative writing really shines through: 

80 Days by inkle studios

"It was a triumph of invention over nature, and will almost certainly disappear into the dust once more in the next fifty years." 

Named Time Magazine ’s game of the year in 2014, this narrative adventure is based on Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. The player is cast as the novel’s narrator, Passpartout, and tasked with circumnavigating the globe in service of their employer, Phileas Fogg. Set in an alternate steampunk Victorian era, the game uses its globe-trotting to comment on the colonialist fantasies inherent in the original novel and its time period. On a storytelling level, the choose-your-own-adventure style means no two players’ journeys will be the same. This innovative approach to a classic novel shows the potential of video games as a storytelling medium, truly making the player part of the story. 

What Remains of Edith Finch by Giant Sparrow

"If we lived forever, maybe we'd have time to understand things. But as it is, I think the best we can do is try to open our eyes, and appreciate how strange and brief all of this is." 

This video game casts the player as 17-year-old Edith Finch. Returning to her family’s home on an island in the Pacific northwest, Edith explores the vast house and tries to figure out why she’s the only one of her family left alive. The story of each family member is revealed as you make your way through the house, slowly unpacking the tragic fate of the Finches. Eerie and immersive, this first-person exploration game uses the medium to tell a series of truly unique tales. 

Fun and breezy on the surface, humor is often recognized as one of the trickiest forms of creative writing. After all, while you can see the artistic value in a piece of prose that you don’t necessarily enjoy, if a joke isn’t funny, you could say that it’s objectively failed.

With that said, it’s far from an impossible task, and many have succeeded in bringing smiles to their readers’ faces through their writing. Here are two examples:

‘How You Hope Your Extended Family Will React When You Explain Your Job to Them’ by Mike Lacher (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

“Is it true you don’t have desks?” your grandmother will ask. You will nod again and crack open a can of Country Time Lemonade. “My stars,” she will say, “it must be so wonderful to not have a traditional office and instead share a bistro-esque coworking space.” 

Satire and parody make up a whole subgenre of creative writing, and websites like McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Onion consistently hit the mark with their parodies of magazine publishing and news media. This particular example finds humor in the divide between traditional family expectations and contemporary, ‘trendy’ work cultures. Playing on the inherent silliness of today’s tech-forward middle-class jobs, this witty piece imagines a scenario where the writer’s family fully understands what they do — and are enthralled to hear more. “‘Now is it true,’ your uncle will whisper, ‘that you’ve got a potential investment from one of the founders of I Can Haz Cheezburger?’”

‘Not a Foodie’ by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (Electric Literature)

I’m not a foodie, I never have been, and I know, in my heart, I never will be. 

Highlighting what she sees as an unbearable social obsession with food , in this comic Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell takes a hilarious stand against the importance of food. From the writer’s courageous thesis (“I think there are more exciting things to talk about, and focus on in life, than what’s for dinner”) to the amusing appearance of family members and the narrator’s partner, ‘Not a Foodie’ demonstrates that even a seemingly mundane pet peeve can be approached creatively — and even reveal something profound about life.

We hope this list inspires you with your own writing. If there’s one thing you take away from this post, let it be that there is no limit to what you can write about or how you can write about it. 

In the next part of this guide, we'll drill down into the fascinating world of creative nonfiction.

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Understanding the 4 Writing Styles: How to Identify and Use Them

General Education

A piece’s writing style can help you figure out what kind of writing it is, what its purpose is, and how the author’s voice is unique. With so many different types of writing, you may think it’s difficult to figure out the specific writing style of a piece or you'll need to search through a long list of writing styles.

However, there are actually just four main types of writing styles, and together they cover practically all the writing you see, from textbooks to novels, to billboards and more.  Whether you’re studying writing styles for class or trying to develop your own writing style and looking for information, we’ve got you covered.

In this guide, we explain the four styles of writing, provide examples for each one, go over the one thing you need to know to identify writing style, and give tips to help you develop your own unique style of writing.

The 4 Types of Writing

There are four main different styles of writing. We discuss each of them below, list where you’re likely to see them, and include an example so you can see for yourself what each of the writing styles looks like.

Writers who use the narrative style are telling a story with a plot and characters. It’s the most common writing style for fiction, although nonfiction can also be narrative writing as long as its focus is on characters, what they do, and what happens to them.

Common Places You’d See Narrative Writing

• Biography or autobiography
• Short stories
• Journals or diaries

“We had luncheon in the dining-room, darkened too against the heat, and drank down nervous gayety with the cold ale. ‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and the next thirty years?’    ‘Don’t be morbid,’ Jordan said. ‘Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.’ ‘But it’s so hot,’ insisted Daisy, on the verge of tears, ‘and everything’s so confused. Let’s all go to town!’ - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

You can quickly tell that this passage from the novel The Great Gatsby is an example of narrative writing because it has the two key traits: characters and a plot. The group is discussing eating and drinking while trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day.

As in this example, narrative writing often has extended dialogue scenes since the dialogue is used to move the plot along and give readers greater insight into the characters.

Writers use the expository style when they are trying to explain a concept. Expository writing is fact-based and doesn’t include the author’s opinions or background. It’s basically giving facts from the writer to the reader.

Common Places You’d See Expository Writing

• Newspaper articles
• Academic journals
• Business memos
• Manuals for electronics
• How-to books and articles

“The 1995/1996 reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus) into Yellowstone National Park after a 70 year absence has allowed for studies of tri-trophic cascades involving wolves, elk (Cervus elaphus), and plant species such as aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwoods (Populus spp.), and willows (Salix spp.). To investigate the status of this cascade, in September of 2010 we repeated an earlier survey of aspen and measured browsing and heights of young aspen in 97 stands along four streams in the Lamar River catchment of the park’s northern winter range. We found that browsing on the five tallest young aspen in each stand decreased from 100% of all measured leaders in 1998 to means of <25% in the uplands and <20% in riparian areas by 2010. Correspondingly, aspen recruitment (i.e., growth of seedlings/sprouts above the browse level of ungulates) increased as browsing decreased over time in these same stands.” -”Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction” by William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta

This abstract from an academic journal article is clearly expository because it only focuses on facts. The authors aren’t giving their opinion of wolves of Yellowstone, they’re not telling a story about the wolves, and the only descriptions are number of trees, streams, etc. so readers can understand the study better.

Because expository writing is focused on facts, without any unnecessary details or stories, the writing can sometimes feel dense and dry to read.

Descriptive

Descriptive writing is, as you may guess, when the author describes something. The writer could be describing a place, person, or an object, but descriptive writing will always include lots of details so the reader can get a clear and complete idea of what is being written about.

Common Places You’d See Descriptive Writing

• Fiction passages that describe something

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit hole and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted...” - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

This is the opening passage of the novel The Hobbit . While The Hobbit is primarily an example of narrative writing, since it explores the adventures of the hobbit and his companions, this scene is definitely descriptive. There is no plot or action going on in this passage; the point is to explain to readers exactly what the hobbit’s home looks like so they can get a clear picture of it while they read. There are lots of details, including the color of the door and exactly where the doorknob is placed.

You won’t often find long pieces of writing that are purely descriptive writing, since they’d be pretty boring to read (nothing would happen in them), instead many pieces of writing, including The Hobbit , will primarily be one of the other writing styles with some descriptive writing passages scattered throughout.

When you’re trying to persuade the reader to think a certain way or do a certain thing, you’ll use persuasive writing to try to convince them.  Your end goal could be to get the reader to purchase something you’re selling, give you a job, give an acquaintance of yours a job, or simply agree with your opinion on a topic.

Common Places You’d See Persuasive Writing

• Advertisements
• Cover letters
• Opinion articles/letters to the editor
• Letters of recommendation
• Reviews of books/movies/restaurants etc.
• Letter to a politician

“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’ - “This was their finest hour” by Winston Churchill

In this excerpt from his famous “Their finest hour” speech, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is clearing trying to convince his audience to see his viewpoint, and he lays out the actions he thinks they should take. In this case, Churchill is speaking to the House of Commons (knowing many other British people would also hear the speech), and he’s trying to prepare the British for the coming war and convince them how important it is to fight.

He emphasizes how important the fight will be (“Upon this battle depends the survival of the Christian civilization.” and clearly spells out what he thinks his audience should do (“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties…”).

Common Writing Styles to Know

Each of the four main types of writing styles has multiple subsets of styles within it. Here are nine of the most common and important types of writing you’ll see.

Narrative Writing

Character voice.

Character voice is a common writing style in novels. Instead of having an unknown narrator, the audience knows who is telling the story. This first-person narrator can help the reader relate more both to the narrator and the storyline since knowing who is telling a story can help the reader feel more connected to it. Sometimes the narrator is completely truthful in telling what happens, while other times they are an unreliable narrator and will mislead or outright lie to readers to make themselves look better. 

To Kill a Mockingbird (Scout is the narrator) and The Hunger Games (Katniss is the narrator) are two examples of this writing style.

Stream-of-Consciousness

This writing style attempts to emulate the thought process of the character. Instead of only writing about what the character says or does, stream-of-consciousness will include all or most of the characters thoughts, even if they jump from one topic to another randomly or include incomplete thoughts.

For example, rather than writing “I decided to take a walk to the ice cream shop,” an author using the stream-of-consciousness writing style could write, “It’s pretty hot out, and I feel like I should eat something, but I’m not really that hungry. I wonder if we have leftovers of the burgers Mom made last night? Is Mom staying late at work tonight? I can’t remember if she said. Ice cream would be a good choice, and not too filling. I can’t drive there though because my car is still in for repairs. Why is the repair shop taking so long? I should have listened when David said to check for reviews online before choosing a place. I should text David later to see how he is. He’ll think I’m mad at him if I don’t. I guess I’ll just have to walk to the shop.”

James Joyce and William Faulkner are two of the most well-known writers to have regularly used the  stream-of-consciousness writing style.

Epistolary writing uses a series of documents, such as letters, diary entries, newspaper articles, or even text messages to tell a story. They don’t have a narrator, there’s just whoever purportedly gathered the documents together. This writing style can provide different points of view because a different person can be the author of each document.

Well-known examples of epistolary writing include the novels Dracula  (written as a series of letters, newspaper articles, and diary entries) and Frankenstein (written as a series of letters).

Expository Writing

You’ll find this style in textbooks or academic journal articles. It’ll focus on teaching a topic or discussing an experiment,  be heavy on facts, and include any sources it cited to get the information. Academic writing often assumes some previous knowledge of the topic and is more focused on providing information than being entertaining, which can make it difficult to read and understand at times.

Business writing refers to the writing done in a workplace. It can include reports, memos, and press releases. Business writing typically has a formal tone and standard formatting rules. Because employees are presumably very busy at work, business writing is very concise and to the point, without any additional flourishes intended to make the writing more interesting.

You’ll see this writing style most commonly in newspaper articles. It focuses on giving the facts in a concise, clear, and easy-to-understand way. Journalists often try to balance covering all the key facts, keeping their articles brief, and making the audience interested in the story.

This writing style is used to give information to people in a specific field, such as an explanation of a new computer programming system to people who work in software, a description of how to install pipes within a house for plumbers, or a guide to new gene modifications for microbiologists.

Technical writing is highly specialized for a certain occupational field. It assumes a high level of knowledge on the topic, and it focuses on sharing large amounts of information with the reader. If you’re not in that field, technical writing can be nearly impossible to understand because of the jargon and references to topics and facts you likely don’t know.

Descriptive Writing

Poetry is one of the most challenging styles of writing to define since it can come in many forms. In general, poems use rhythmic language and careful word choice to express an idea. A poem can be an example of descriptive writing or narrative writing, depending on whether it’s describing something or telling a story. Poetry doesn’t need to rhyme, and it often won’t follow standard grammatical or structural rules. Line breaks can, and often do, occur in the middle of sentences.

Persuasive Writing

Copywriting.

Copywriting is writing that is done for advertising or marketing purposes. It’s attempting to get the reader to buy whatever the writer is trying to sell. Examples of copywriting include catalogs, billboards, ads in newspapers or magazines, and social media ads.

In an attempt to get the reader to spend their money, copywriters may use techniques such as descriptive language (“This vanilla was harvested from the lush and exotic island of Madagascar"), exciting language (Stop what you’re doing and learn about this new product that will transform your life!”) and exaggeration (“This is the best cup of coffee you will ever taste!”).

Opinion 

People write opinion pieces for the purpose of stating their beliefs on a certain topic and to try to get readers to agree with them. You can see opinion pieces in newspaper opinion sections, certain blog posts, and some social media posts. The quality of opinion writing can vary widely. Some papers or sites will only publish opinion pieces if all the facts in them can be backed up by evidence, but other opinion pieces, especially those that are self-published online, don't go through any fact-checking process and can include inaccuracies and misinformation.

What If You’re Unsure of a Work’s Writing Style?

If you’re reading a piece of writing and are unsure of its main writing style, how can you figure which style it is? The best method is to think about what the purpose or main idea of the writing is. Each of the four main writing styles has a specific purpose:

• Descriptive: to describe things
• Expository: to give facts
• Narrative: to tell a story
• Persuasive: to convince the reader of something

Here’s an example of a passage with a somewhat ambiguous writing style:

It can be tricky to determine the writing style of many poems since poetry is so varied and can fit many styles. For this poem, you might at first think it has a narrative writing style, since it begins with a narrator mentioning a walk he took after church. Character + plot = narrative writing style, right?

Before you decide, you need to read the entire passage. Once you do, it’ll become clear that there really isn’t much narrative. There’s a narrator, and he’s taking a walk to get a birch from another man, but that’s about all we have for character development and plot. We don’t know anything about the narrator or his friend’s personality, what’s going to happen next, what his motivations are, etc.

The poem doesn’t devote any space to that, instead, the majority of the lines are spent describing the scene. The narrator mentions the heat, scent of sap, the sound of frogs, what the ground is like, etc. It’s clear that, since the majority of the piece is dedicated to describing the scene, this is an example of descriptive writing.

How Can You Develop Your Own Writing Style?

A distinctive writing style is one of the hallmarks of a good writer, but how can you develop your own? Below are four tips to follow.

Read Many Different Styles of Writing

If you don’t read lots of different kinds of writing, you won’t be able to write in those styles, so before you try to get your own writing style, read different writing styles than what you’re used to.  This doesn’t mean that, if you mostly read novels, you suddenly need to shift to reading computer manuals. Instead, you can try to read novels that use unreliable narrators, stream-of-consciousness writing, etc.

The more you read, the more writing styles you’ll be exposed to, and the easier it’ll be able to combine some of those into your own writing style.

Consider Combining Multiple Types of Writing Styles

There’s no rule that you can only use one style for a piece of writing. In fact, many longer works will include multiple styles. A novel may be primarily narrative, but it can also contain highly descriptive passages as well as expository parts when the author wants the readers to understand a new concept.

However, make sure you don’t jump around too much. A paper or book that goes from dense academic text to impassioned plea for a cause to a story about your childhood and back again will confuse readers and make it difficult for them to understand the point you’re trying to make.

Find a Balance Between Comfort and Boundary-Pushing

You should write in a style that feels natural to you, since that will be what comes most easily and what feels most authentic to the reader. An academic who never ventures outside the city trying to write a book from the perspective of a weathered, unschooled cowboy may end up with writing that seems fake and forced.

A great way to change up your writing and see where it can be improved is to rewrite certain parts in a new writing style.  If you’ve been writing a novel with narrative voice, change a few scenes to stream-of-consciousness, then think about how it felt to be using that style and if you think it improved your writing or gave you any new ideas. If you’re worried that some writing you did is dull and lacking depth, add in a few passages that are purely descriptive and see if they help bring the writing to life.

You don’t always need to do this, and you don’t need to keep the new additions in what you wrote, but trying new things will help you get a better idea of what you want your own style to be like.

The best way to develop your own writing style is to expose yourself to numerous types of writing, both through reading and writing. As you come into contact with more writing styles and try them out for yourself, you’ll naturally begin to develop a writing style that you feel comfortable with.

Summary: The 4 Different Styles of Writing

There are four main writing styles, and each has a different purpose:

If you’re struggling to figure out the writing style of a piece, ask yourself what its purpose is and why the author wants you to read it.

To develop your own writing style, you should:

• Read widely
• Consider mixing styles
• Balance writing what you know and trying new things

What's Next?

Literary devices are also an important part of understanding writing styles. Learn the 24 literary devices you must know by reading our guide on literary devices.

Writing a research paper for school but not sure what to write about?   Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you. 

Are you reading  The Great Gatsby for class or even just for fun?  Then you'll definitely want to check out our expert guides on the biggest themes in this classic book, from love and relationships to money and materialism .

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What is Style?

The distinct manner in which a writer uses language to convey their message or story., stylish writing: an exploration of writing style.

Style in writing is the way a writer puts their ideas and words together to create a unique and recognizable voice, tone, and rhythm. It is the art of using language to express a message or tell a story in a creative, captivating, and effective way.

Writing style can be characterized by various elements such as word choice, sentence structure, tone, imagery, and figurative language. It reflects the writer's personality, background, and purpose for writing. A writer's style can be influenced by their cultural and literary traditions, audience, and genre.

Moreover, writing style can evolve and change over time as a writer grows and experiments with different techniques and forms. Finding one's style requires experimentation, practice, and reflection. It involves discovering what works best for you and your readers and adapting to new situations and challenges.

Therefore, mastering writing style is not just about using correct grammar or following rigid rules, but about discovering your unique voice and using it to create powerful and engaging writing that resonates with your readers.

Writing style is a fundamental aspect of literature that contributes to its beauty, impact, and significance. Here are two famous examples that showcase the importance of writing style in literature.

Ernest Hemingway is well-known for his succinct, clear writing style that emphasizes economy of language and concrete imagery. In his novella, 'The Old Man and the Sea', he uses short sentences and simple, powerful language to tell the story of an aging fisherman's struggle to catch a giant marlin. His writing style reflects the character's perseverance, humility, and love for the sea and its creatures.

Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita' is a controversial and unsettling novel that showcases his masterful use of language, imagery, and voice to evoke complex emotions and ideas. His writing style is characterized by its poetic, playful, and ironic qualities that challenge the readers' moral and aesthetic sensibilities. By adopting the persona of his protagonist, a pedophile and murderer named Humbert Humbert, Nabokov explores the themes of love, obsession, and corrupted innocence in a daring and sophisticated way.

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How to Find Your Writing Style: 8 Tips for Developing Voice and Tone

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Nov 12, 2021 • 4 min read

Just like a famous designer might have a unique fashion style, great writers develop their own signature methods for storytelling and communication. Try these tips for developing a writing style that fits who you are and the stories you want to tell.

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21 Writing Strategies To Help Aspiring Writers Plan, Create, and Finalize Their Work

Including smart ways to break through writer’s block!

Writing well takes practice and patience, but it’s a skill that offers real benefits both in the classroom and the real world. For many, writing is incredibly challenging, leaving people asking “Where do I even start?” Even experienced authors use a variety of writing strategies to keep themselves on track. We’ve rounded up some of the best writing strategies, with explanations and examples to help aspiring writers plan, organize, get started, and polish their final drafts.

Planning and Prep Writing Strategies

Organization writing strategies, writing strategies to overcome writer’s block, writing strategies to polish your work.

Before you ever put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), writing takes a lot of preparation and planning. Use these strategies to get yourself ready to write.

Mentor Texts

The best writers are the ones who also read voraciously. Reading helps you develop your general language and composition skills by exposing you to correct grammar, syntax, and more. Even more importantly, reading gives you examples of great writing (and often, bad writing). It allows you to explore different writing styles so you can develop your own personal voice. Author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury recommended reading one short story before bed every single night.

Many writers, especially students, use mentor texts as examples of the type of writing they want to emulate. Reading a few of these in the style of the piece you’re working on can inspire and guide you along the way. These texts can be books, magazines, articles, poems, essays, and more. Here are some of our favorite mentor texts in various styles:

• Opinion Writing Mentor Texts
• Narrative Writing Mentor Texts
• Procedural Writing Mentor Texts

To write convincingly about a topic, you must know it well, whether you’re working in nonfiction or fiction. If you decide to set your short story in Greece in the 19th century, you’ll need to know what life was like then. Writing about a main character who loves skateboarding means knowing the terminology and language of the culture. Deep knowledge on a topic adds realism and authenticity to any form of writing.

Regardless of what you’re researching, it’s important to use reliable primary sources. The Internet makes researching easier than ever before, but it can be harder to know whether your sources are trustworthy. Dedicated writers take time to verify their sources, and it’s especially important to teach young writers how to do so .

Taking good notes is vital when you’re researching. For some people, this means bookmarks and annotated text. Others prefer outlines or mind maps. Learn about smart note-taking strategies and choose a few that work best for you.

Immerse Yourself

Take your research a step further by truly immersing yourself in the time and place you’re writing about. Visit places in person if you can, or try virtual online tours through sites like Google Earth. These virtual field trips are a good option if you can’t get there yourself.

Meet or talk with people who have personal experience with your topic. Eat the foods of a country or culture, and listen to its music. Explore lots of visual sources, like pictures and videos. You can even hang some of your favorite images around your workspace for inspiration. The more familiar you are with a topic, the more comfortable you’ll feel writing about it.

Know Your Audience

Imagine you’re writing about whales. You’ve done lots of research and have plenty of interesting information to share. But the way you share it will vary a lot depending on who you’re writing for. If your audience is your teacher, you’ll probably want to use technical terms and cite your sources. But if you’re writing a book for little kids, your writing will be more descriptive and the language much simpler.

Ask defining questions like these:

• Who will read what I’m writing?
• Why are they reading it?
• What kind of language will they understand?
• What might they already know about this topic?
• What will these readers really care about?
• How will their personal experiences affect them as they’re reading?
• What style and tone of writing are they likely to enjoy most?

Character Profiles

Fiction writers need to create believable characters, with fully developed personalities. Some writers envision entire backstories for their characters that never make it onto the page. But these backstories inform their writing, driving their characters’ actions and choices. Try some of these ideas to develop strong characters:

• Create a family tree or relationship map of your characters
• Draw the characters, or describe their physical looks in detail
• Write timelines of your characters’ lives
• List their personality or character traits
• Describe a character’s hopes, dreams, and ambitions
• Determine the character’s voice: how they talk (words and phrases, syntax, etc.) and any accents, dialects, or code-switching they use

Start at the End

It sounds a little strange, but consider writing the final sentence or paragraph of your work first. After all, when you plan a trip, you almost always have a final destination in mind. How you get there may vary, but you’re ultimately striving toward a particular goal.

If you’re working on a nonfiction essay or research paper, writing the end first allows you clarify exactly what ideas you want your reader to walk away with. Then, you can work backward to fill in the details that support those ideas. Write your first paragraph last, and you’ll find it much easier to sum up your ideas and prepare the reader for what’s to come.

Fiction writers can do this too. In fact, many mystery writers start at the end, determining the solution to their mystery first. This allows them to build up the story around that resolution, ensuring the narrative hangs together. Picture your characters at the end of the story, then decide how you’ll get them there.

One of the hardest parts of writing can be keeping everything in order, especially when you’re writing longer pieces. Writers also need to manage their time to ensure they hit any deadlines or due dates they might have. These writing techniques can help.

Establish a Routine

Every famous author has had their own particular writing routine or habits. Stephen King sat in the same place each day , with his papers arranged carefully around him. E.B. White never listened to music while he wrote (although other distractions didn’t bother him). Hemingway wrote first thing every morning , as early as possible. Simone de Beauvoir wrote a little in the morning and then again in the evening.

Each one is different, but one thing is the same: They almost always followed the same routine and habits. This kept them focused and ensured they could meet the goals they set. Set aside a specific time for writing each day, and figure out the setting and habits that suit you best. Think about when you’ve been most productive, and try to replicate that as much as possible.

Set Writing Goals

We often teach students to set S.M.A.R.T goals : specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. These are ideal for writing, especially when you have a longer or more complex piece to finish. They also work if you just want to get a little better at your craft.

If you have a deadline or due date, start with that in mind and work backward. Be sure to allow time in your schedule for items like research, planning, a first draft, revision/editing, second draft, feedback, and a final draft. When you’re writing your first draft, consider breaking it into even smaller sections that will help you meet your goal and keep you on target. (Stephen King writes six pages a day; John Steinbeck was happy with just one.)

Outline or Story Map

For longer pieces, writers turn to outlines and story maps, creating the overall structure of their composition before they start writing in sentences and paragraphs. Some do this using the traditional outline structure , starting with the main points and filling in key details. Others like the sticky note method, where they write one fact or plot point on each note and move them around as needed.

When you map things out in advance, it makes the writing process itself much simpler. For nonfiction pieces, it ensures you don’t leave out any important information. In fiction, a story map helps you plan a narrative arc that hangs together and drives the story along. When you have an outline or story map in place, you can focus on finding the words to share these ideas with your audience.

Writing Template

A template can be a real benefit, especially for beginners or young students. It lays out the various sections and guides the writer through the process of completing each one. Think of a template kind of like training wheels; they help inexperienced writers feel a little more comfortable and keep them from missing important steps while they write. Check out our huge collection of free printable writing templates for elementary students.

If you’re a visual person, try a storyboard instead. This method uses a blank comic-book-style template to sketch out the action scene-by-scene. You don’t necessarily need to be a strong artist to use a storyboard, as long as you can get your ideas across in your drawings. Find a free storyboard template for younger students here.

Once you have your sketches, go back and add some text underneath. This might be dialogue, descriptive terms, or facts you want to include in that section. This text provides a terrific jumping-off point to begin writing in earnest.

It happens to everyone: the horror of the blank page—and a blank mind. The deadline clock is tick-tick-ticking, so you know you’ve got to do something, and do it pretty quick. Take a deep breath, then see if one of these writing strategies can help you break through.

Free-Write (Brainstorm)

This is all about just putting something down on the page. It doesn’t need to be good, it doesn’t need to follow grammar or spelling rules, it doesn’t even necessarily need to make sense! Just start letting words flow from your brain through the pen or keyboard and onto paper. In the same way that the physical act of smiling can actually make us feel happier, the physical act of writing or typing can sometimes get the creative juices flowing at last.

Write about anything, even the fact that you don’t have anything to write about, in a stream-of-consciousness style. When you feel up to it, transition into writing a bit about your topic or plot. Even if you only manage to write one good sentence or phrase you can use, it’s still progress.

Writing Sprints

Set a timer and just WRITE. Keep your pen (or fingers on the keyboard) moving the entire time, no matter what. If you’re really stuck, just write or type the same word over and over again until something shakes loose. Or combine a writing sprint with a writing prompt (see below) and let your words run free.

Short sprints of 5 to 10 minutes are great for warming up before a longer writing session. But you can also try longer sprints (up to an hour or so), where you purposely block out all other distractions. Turn off or mute your phone, set your device to distraction-free mode, shut the door or put on noise-cancelling headphones, whatever it takes. For the duration of your sprint, your only job is to write.

Writing Prompts

Use prompts to spark creativity and overcome writer’s block. Whether they inspire you to write a lot or a little, they get you into a creative mood and strengthen your writing muscles. We’ve got lots of writing prompts and topics to tackle:

• Short Story Starters and Writing Prompts
• Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts
• Kindergarten Writing Prompts
• First Grade Writing Prompts
• Second Grade Writing Prompts
• Third Grade Writing Prompts
• Fourth Grade Writing Prompts
• Fifth Grade Writing Prompts
• Creative Writing Prompts for Grades 4-8
• The Big List of Essay Topics for High School

A vignette is a short, descriptive piece that tries to bring the reader fully into one single moment. It doesn’t need a plot; rather, it tries to capture the mood and atmosphere with lots of evocative detail. Vignettes are a great way to jump-start your writing, establishing the setting of your piece or a particular scene you want to describe. Learn more about using vignettes here.

Having trouble figuring out your characters’ motivations, voices, or relationships? Try dialogue. You can approach this several different ways. One is to imagine and write a conversation between two or more characters in your story on any topic. You may or may not use this dialogue in your finished work; the point is to help you hear each character and their personality more clearly.

Another option is to have an imaginary conversation with a specific character out loud. Pretend you’re talking to them, and when they “respond,” speak aloud their voice as you imagine it in your head. Then, try to put those words into writing to see how they translate to the page.

Rough Draft

Initial drafts can actually be pretty freeing, because you’re not working toward perfection. Instead, you’re trying to get all your ideas onto paper for the first time, in sentences and paragraphs. Don’t worry too much about word choice, spelling, or even grammar at this point. Instead, just keep on writing. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to go back to revise and edit.

A rough draft might wind up being much shorter or longer than your final version. Some people like to write down anything and everything they’ve researched or planned for. Then, they condense and trim their text in later drafts. Others like to lay out the overall structure, then return to add more details and depth. Both of these methods are valid, so use whichever works best for you.

With your initial draft finally on the page, it’s time to edit, revise, and make it the best it can possibly be! These techniques and strategies will help you get there.

Captivating Opening Sentence

A strong opening sentence draws the reader in from the beginning. Try writing multiple versions to see which you like best. To ensure your opening is truly meaningful, share it with someone on its own, without the rest of the text for context. Ask what they think your writing will be about based on that single sentence, and if it interests them enough to want to read the rest.

Even nonfiction writing deserves amazing opening sentences. Darwin began On the Origin of Species by saying, “When on board H.M.S. ‘Beagle,’ as naturalist …” The book itself has a lot of dry technical writing, but that opening sentence evokes a sense of time and place, of adventure in far-off places, and it draws the reader in.

Avoid starting your writing with conventional phrases like “In this paper I will prove that …” or “I’m going to tell you about …” Thesis statements are important, but they’re rarely interesting enough to really intrigue the reader. Take a cue from Virginia Woolf, who opened A Room of One’s Own with: “But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction—what has that got to do with a room of one’s own? I will try to explain.”

Very few writers write a first draft that’s ready to be turned in or published. Instead, they revisit and refine their drafts multiple times, a process known as revision. When you revise, you focus on the overall structure and clarity of your work. Ask yourself questions like these:

Nonfiction Revision

• Is/Are my main point/s clear?
• Have I completely proven all the points in my thesis statement?
• Did I use facts to back up my assertions or opinions?
• Have I included citations or quotations that support my writing?
• Are there any areas where my writing is vague or needs to be clarified?
• Have I addressed any counterarguments and acknowledged alternative views?
• Does the overall structure make sense?
• Do my paragraphs transition well from one to the next?
• Should I add headings or subdivisions to make the paper easier to follow?
• Is my language and tone appropriate?
• Have I varied my word choice, refraining from repeating words or phrases over and over?
• Does my conclusion effectively and clearly sum up my paper?
• How will the reader feel when they finish reading this work, and does it match how I want them to feel?

Fiction Revision

• Does the story have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• Is there a strong narrative arc?
• Have I left any plot holes or unresolved conflicts that may feel unsatisfying?
• How is the pacing? Does the story move along well, or does it get bogged down in places?
• Do my characters speak with clear, individual voices?
• Have my characters grown and changed as the story progressed?
• Do the characters’ voices feel authentic?
• Have I added realistic details without relying too heavily on description to carry the story? (“Show, don’t tell.”)
• Does the setting feel real? Can I picture myself living in that place and time?
• Is the conflict interesting enough to draw in the reader and hold their attention?
• How do I want the reader to feel when they finish the story? Have I accomplished that?

Once you’re happy with the overall structure and writing itself, it’s time to get down to the technical nitty-gritty. That means details like grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling. In other words, the time has come to proofread your work.

Word-processing programs or apps like Grammarly can help you catch a lot of these errors, making this job easier. But the final edit is ultimately down to you, so proofread and correct, then proofread again. Do your best to make your writing as technically perfect as you can, so the reader isn’t distracted by spelling mistakes or other minor problems.

One fantastic way to revise and edit is to read your text aloud, to yourself or others. Maya Angelou often read her writing out loud to her husband in the evening. “Hearing it aloud is good,” she explained. “Sometimes I hear the dissonance; then I try to straighten it out in the morning.”

Reading aloud is also ideal for catching errors like missing words or confusing sentences. You likely read much faster in your head than you do out loud, so this method forces you to slow down and focus. This is one of our favorite writing strategies for those who have trouble with attention to detail.

Peer Review

Experienced writers welcome feedback from others. Read the acknowledgements in any book, and you’re likely to find the author thanking their peer writing group or editors for substantially improving their text.

Some people find it hard to take feedback on writing, since it can feel very personal. Remember this: If you’re writing something only you will ever see, then you don’t need to worry about others. But if your writing is intended for an audience, you have to let that audience see your work to find out if you’ve truly managed to convey your ideas.

You don’t need to incorporate every suggestion or change your peers, teacher, or editor suggests. But feedback ultimately makes writing stronger and better. Seek it actively and use it wisely, and you’ll find it’s one of the most valuable writing strategies of all.

What are your favorite writing strategies to share with students? Come exchange ideas in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, must-have anchor charts for teaching writing of all kinds ..

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Creative Writing

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Creative writing is a form of artistic expression that goes beyond the bounds of traditional literature. It encompasses various genres and styles, including scriptwriting , narrative writing , and article writing , allowing writers to explore and convey their imaginations vividly. This form of writing also includes creating a creative bio , where writers introduce themselves in unique and engaging ways. Creative writing not only hones one’s ability to tell compelling stories but also enhances critical thinking and emotional expression.

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is the art of crafting original content through imaginative expression, including genres like scriptwriting, narrative writing, and article writing. It involves the creation of engaging and innovative texts that showcase a writer’s creativity and unique voice.

Examples of Creative Writing

• Short Stories : Brief fictional narratives often focused on a single theme or event.
• Novels : Extended fictional works exploring complex characters and plots.
• Poetry : Artistic expression through verse and rhythmic language.
• Scriptwriting : Writing scripts for films, television shows, or plays.
• Memoirs : Personal accounts of significant life experiences.
• Autobiographies : Comprehensive self-written life stories.
• Essays : Explorative pieces on a particular subject, showcasing personal viewpoints.
• Flash Fiction : Very short stories, often under 1,000 words.
• Narrative Writing : Storytelling that includes a plot, characters, and a setting.
• Creative Nonfiction : True stories told using literary techniques.
• Letters : Personalized and imaginative written correspondence.
• Diary Entries : Personal reflections and daily experiences.
• Blog Posts : Online articles written in an engaging and personal style.
• Fables : Short stories with moral lessons, often featuring animals as characters.
• Fairy Tales : Stories involving magical events and fantastical characters.
• Fantasy : Fiction set in imaginary universes, often involving magic.
• Science Fiction : Speculative fiction often dealing with futuristic concepts.
• Song Lyrics : Written words designed to be sung, expressing emotions and stories.
• Speeches : Written for public speaking, aiming to inspire or inform.
• Creative Bio : Engaging and unique personal introductions for authors or professionals.

Creative Writing Examples for Students

1. a day in the life of a superhero.

Title: The Amazing Adventures of Lightning Girl

Lightning Girl woke up to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing. She stretched her arms and smiled, ready to save the world. She put on her blue and yellow suit, laced up her boots, and flew out the window. Her first mission was to stop a runaway train. With a flash of lightning, she zoomed to the scene, using her super speed to bring the train to a safe stop. The passengers cheered, and Lightning Girl felt proud.

2. A Magical Journey

Title: The Enchanted Forest

One sunny morning, Mia discovered a hidden path in her backyard. Curious, she followed it and found herself in an enchanted forest. The trees sparkled with magic, and the animals could talk. A friendly fox named Felix greeted her. He guided Mia to the Fairy Queen, who needed help finding a lost treasure. Together, they ventured through the forest, solving riddles and overcoming obstacles. Mia used her bravery and kindness to succeed. When she found the treasure, the Fairy Queen granted her a wish.

Creative Writing Examples for High School

1. a dystopian world.

Title: The Last City

In the year 2150, the world had changed. Natural disasters and wars had destroyed most of the Earth, leaving only one city standing – Arka. The city was enclosed by a massive dome to protect its inhabitants from the harsh conditions outside. Within Arka, life was strictly controlled by the government. Citizens were assigned jobs, and freedom was limited. Sarah, a young woman, dreamed of seeing the world beyond the dome.

2. A Time Travel Adventure

Title: The Time Traveler’s Dilemma

James was an ordinary high school student until he found a mysterious pocket watch in his grandfather’s attic. The watch had the power to transport him through time. One evening, James accidentally activated the watch and found himself in the year 1920. He witnessed life during the Roaring Twenties, experiencing the excitement and challenges of the era. However, he also discovered that his actions in the past could have serious consequences for the future. James had to navigate the complexities of time travel, learning valuable lessons about history, responsibility, and the impact of his choices.

Creative Writing Examples Short Stories

1. the mysterious key.

Title: The Mysterious Key

Lucy loved exploring old antique shops. One day, she found an ornate key with intricate designs. The shopkeeper said it was part of a set, but he didn’t know what it opened. Intrigued, Lucy bought the key and began searching for its lock. She asked around town and discovered an old mansion on the outskirts that had been abandoned for years.

2. The Lost Puppy

Title: The Lost Puppy

Sam was walking home from school when he heard a whimpering sound. He followed it and found a small, frightened puppy hiding under a bush. The puppy had no collar, and no one in the neighborhood recognized it. Sam decided to take the puppy home and named it Max. He put up posters and asked around, but no one claimed the puppy. Over the weeks, Sam and Max became inseparable. Just when Sam thought he’d have to give Max up, a neighbor recognized the puppy from the posters.

Creative Writing Examples for Kids

1. a talking cat.

Title: The Talking Cat

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Lily who loved animals. One day, while walking in the park, she found a stray cat with bright green eyes. She took the cat home and named it Whiskers. To her surprise, Whiskers started talking! He told Lily that he was a magical cat who could talk to only kind-hearted children.

2. The Magical Treehouse

Title: The Magical Treehouse

Max and Mia were siblings who loved to play in their backyard. One day, they discovered an old treehouse they had never seen before. They climbed up and found a dusty book inside. When they opened the book, the treehouse began to shake and glow. Suddenly, they were transported to a magical land filled with talking animals, friendly giants, and enchanted forests.

Creative Writing Examples for College

1. the existential café.

Title: The Existential Café

In a bustling city, there was a small café known only to a few. The café, called “The Existential,” attracted people searching for deeper meaning in life. One evening, Emma, a philosophy major, entered the café seeking solace from her overwhelming coursework. She met an older man named Henry, a former professor who frequented the café. They struck up a conversation about life, purpose, and the nature of existence. Their discussions became a weekly ritual, challenging Emma’s views and helping her grow intellectually and emotionally.

2. The Forgotten Manuscript

Title: The Forgotten Manuscript

Alex, an aspiring writer, stumbled upon an old, dusty manuscript in the basement of his university library. The manuscript was written by a little-known author from the 1920s and contained a gripping mystery novel that was never published. Fascinated, Alex decided to finish the story and publish it as a tribute to the original author. As he worked on the manuscript, he uncovered secrets about the author’s life, including a love affair and a mysterious disappearance.

Types of Creative Writing

Fiction : Fiction writing involves creating stories that are not real. This genre includes novels, short stories, and novellas. Fiction often explores themes, characters, and plots that captivate readers’ imaginations.

Poetry : Poetry is a form of writing that uses rhythmic and aesthetic qualities of language to evoke meanings. It often employs meter, rhyme, and other linguistic devices to convey emotions and ideas.

Creative Nonfiction : Creative nonfiction tells true stories using the techniques of fiction. This genre includes memoirs, autobiographies, personal essays, and narrative journalism. It blends factual accuracy with narrative flair.

Playwriting : Playwriting involves writing scripts for theatrical performances. It includes dialogue, stage directions, and character descriptions. Playwrights create works for the stage that are performed by actors.

Screenwriting : Screenwriting is the craft of writing scripts for movies and television. It includes the dialogue, actions, and expressions of characters, as well as directions for camera movements and settings.

Flash Fiction : Flash fiction is a very short form of storytelling, usually under 1,000 words. It focuses on brevity and clarity, often delivering a powerful impact in a concise format.

Expository Writing : Expository writing explains or informs. While not traditionally seen as creative, expository writing can be highly creative when presenting information in engaging ways.

Journaling : Journaling involves writing personal reflections, thoughts, and experiences. It can be a way to explore creativity and self-expression in an informal manner.

Letters : Letter writing, though less common today, is a form of creative expression that can be both personal and profound. It includes personal letters, open letters, and epistolary novels (novels written as a series of letters).

Songwriting : Songwriting combines lyrical writing with music. Lyrics can be poetic, narrative, or abstract, and they work in harmony with musical composition to create songs.

Tips for Creative writing

• Read Widely and Often
• Write Regularly
• Keep a Journa
• Show, Don’t Tell
• Create Strong Characters
• Use Dialogue Effectively
• Embrace the Editing Process

How can I improve my creative writing skills?

Read widely, write regularly, and seek feedback. Practice different genres, including Memo Writing and Report Writing, to enhance your versatility.

Can creative writing help in Memo Writing?

Yes, creative writing enhances narrative skills, making Memo Writing more engaging and effective through improved storytelling techniques.

How does creative writing differ from Report Writing?

Creative writing focuses on imaginative storytelling, while Report Writing presents factual information. Both require clear, compelling language.

Why is ‘show, don’t tell’ important in creative writing?

‘Show, don’t tell’ creates vivid imagery and emotions, drawing readers into the story and enhancing engagement.

Can creative writing improve Report Writing?

Yes, creative writing hones clarity and expression, making Report Writing more compelling and readable.

What role does dialogue play in creative writing?

Dialogue reveals character traits, advances the plot, and creates realistic interactions, adding depth to your writing.

What inspires creative writing?

Inspiration can come from personal experiences, observations, other literary works, and even Memo Writing or Report Writing.

How important is editing in creative writing?

Editing is crucial. It refines your work, improves clarity, and ensures your story resonates with readers.

What is the best way to start a creative writing piece?

Start with a compelling opening that grabs attention, such as an intriguing question, vivid description, or dramatic event.

Why join a writing community?

Writing communities offer support, feedback, and inspiration, helping you grow as a writer in both creative and professional contexts like Memo Writing and Report Writing.

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Writing Creatively to Make Sense of the Times We Live In

Journalist katrin schumann talks about why she writes fiction..

Updated July 12, 2024 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

• Studies show that the act of all kinds of writing hones our reflective abilities.
• Creative writing stretches our imagination, increases emotional resilience, and alleviates stress.
• Writers of nonfiction examine complex issues that are relevant to our times.
• Novelists examine the issues using characters as a vehicle for empathy.

Studies show that the act of writing hones our reflective abilities, stretches our imagination , increases emotional resilience , and alleviates stress . In my conversation with journalist-turned-novelist Katrin Schumann, we discuss how creative writing, in particular, is a worthy pursuit to understand the issues of our time. Schumann is the author of the nonfiction books Mothers Need Time Outs Too and The Secret Life of Middle Children, as well as the novels The Forgotten Hours and This Terrible Beauty .

You’re a trained journalist and the author of nonfiction books. Why, in the last few years, have you focused on writing fiction?

Writing nonfiction has been a way for me to examine complex issues that are relevant to our times, including psychological ones, but I’ve found that in recent years, I’ve been drawn to fiction because it allows me to get closer to the subject. In exploring thorny issues like loyalty and trust or co-dependency , I’m able to do more of a deep dive in fiction. The form allows me to sit with the complexities, to live in the gray areas with my characters.

I can’t always do this with nonfiction, where I’m approaching the topic from a specific angle, seeking solutions. In fiction, I have space to explore nuances that fascinate and confuse me and try to make sense of the inevitable contradictions. It’s messier and more delicate than nonfiction. For me, this feels more true to the human experience.

All writing involves deep reflection. Do you find the act of writing fiction to be a different kind of therapy?

Yes. Spending years creating characters and situations that grapple with serious, real-world problems lets me explore my own difficult experiences. For instance, I’d been wrestling with the aftermath of dealing with a narcissist when I started writing my first novel. By fictionalizing those challenges, I was able to find the courage to linger in the dark areas, examining them from all angles in order to find where the light might get in.

I discovered greater empathy and resilience in myself while also being able to acknowledge the trauma I’d been through. It’s using my imagination, combined with researching some very real and current psychological challenges, that ultimately feels most powerful to me and an effective way to reach readers.

How does fictionalizing the story give you more latitude or depth in exploring topics? You write about things like self-reliance and depression, and I’m wondering why not just write articles about it.

I write to figure out my own issues and to learn, but also to share. For me, fiction writing makes me work harder and go deeper. I’m trying to change people’s minds and hearts in subtler ways. I’m reflecting on experiences I’ve had, wrestling with what they mean, and how we can all learn from them and come out the better for it.

Yet, I don’t want to be prescriptive; I want people to draw their own conclusions. I research deeply about whatever topic I’m tackling.

To write my last novel, I studied the history of neuropsychology, dissecting studies on substance abuse . I conducted interviews. For all my books, I gather and study facts and figures, but with novels, I take that a step further. I put those facts and figures into play with my imagined characters to explore what happens. I imbue the impersonal with empathy and allow readers to try to figure out how they feel about how the characters contend with the issue. This approach leads me to meaningful personal discoveries while also taking the reader along on the emotional journey.

How do you decide whether to approach a topic in a nonfiction book or in a novel?

The more I’m personally involved with the topic, the more I want to explore it in fictional form. Ironically, for fiction, I feel like I should have an even better understanding of some of these psychological challenges than if I were covering them through straight nonfiction reportage. I first have to understand the topic and its history so my story is not only realistic but feels authentic.

I want readers to trust me, which means I have to be thorough. It’s my aim to take them on a ride that’s compelling as well as informative. And I love learning something new when I’m immersed in researching and writing fiction.

If writing fiction is about wrestling with your own demons, why not simply journal?

Journaling is, without question, a beneficial reflective activity. Yet what differentiates this kind of work from journaling about our problems or writing blog posts is that novelists are committing more time and energy to the deep dive on a specific topic. My last novel took almost three years to write, and during that time, I was reading everything I could get my hands on about the topic in order to distill it so that readers might find it relevant to their own lives.

At that stage, it’s not really about me anymore; it’s about the human condition. And in the end, that’s what readers relate to, I think. It’s what makes them call their friends and say, “I just finished this great book. You’ve got to read it.”

More about Katrin Schumann 's work

Lynne Griffin, R.N., M.Ed. , researches family life and is a novelist.

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Home > Blog > Different Types Of Structure In Writing

Different Types Of Structure In Writing

• Smodin Editorial Team
• Updated: July 16, 2024
• General Guide About Content and Writing

No matter what kind of writing style you’re trying to master – blogs, essays, or research papers – the starting block is always the same. No writing project can be completed without first understanding the basic writing structures. In fact, they can be make or break for your readers!

Knowing when, where, and how to use different types of structure in writing can help take your writing from ordinary to extra ordinary in one fell swoop.

In this simple guide to some of the most common writing structures, we’ll teach you about the foundations of each structure, and how to implement them flawlessly.

Chronological Writing Structure

Chronological structure is like storytelling with a built-in timeline of events. It’s a way of organizing this timeline or information into the logical order of when certain events happened.

Generally, you’ll want to use this structure when retelling a story, sharing historical events, or even noting down someone’s biography. It helps the reader to follow along with what you’re telling them and can help avoid confusion by jumping back and forth in the timeline.

A good example of this is writing a story that chronicles the sequence of events for a treasure hunt. You would first need to explain when and how the map for the treasure was discovered before you moved on. For instance, you might speak about the obstacles that may have been important on the hunt and finally end your writing piece with how the treasure was found.

If you start your story by telling the reader about the obstacles, then how the treasure was found, and only then how the map was found, it won’t make very much sense. Instead, you can grab the reader’s interest by using a chronological structure.

Logical Writing Structure

We know that writing isn’t for everyone – it can be really tricky to put your ideas together and explain your point of view in a way that flows and makes sense. This is particularly true for academic writing, where you may need to build a solid case by arranging your key information and evidence logically.

That’s where the logical writing structure comes in handy. This structure can organize your ideas and information within the main body of your essay and make your writing style more convincing. For it to be effective, you need to pay attention to your sentences and paragraphs and how they tie up loose ends.

With logical writing, every idea should smoothly transition to the next in a way that mimics your natural pattern of thought progression.

In each paragraph, you need to have key components like assertion, context, evidence, interpretation, and transitions. Ultimately, these transitions help to wrap up one thought or idea before you move on.

Since logical writing can become complicated, you can always use Smodin’s AI Essay Writer tool to help you organize your information. Plus, you can use it to find online sources for your evidence, which makes it easier to support any claims you’ve made.

Argumentative Writing Structure

When you want to make a clear, strong argument in your writing, the most fitting type of structure would be the argumentative structure. Argument-based writing structures revolve around your claim, which is what you’re trying to prove (the point you’re arguing).

You’ll also need evidence to support your claim since it’s hard to win your reader over without proof of what you’re saying. Still, there’s a twist. You’ll also need to address the other side’s argument to prove that their point of view doesn’t hold up against yours. This is known as the counterargument.

When you need to write research papers or essays, an argumentative writing structure is a fantastic way to explain your point. You can also use one of three methods, including:

• Classic: This method is straightforward. You can state your argument, address the opposition, and provide evidence.
• Rogerian: The Rogerian method always looks for a middle ground and respects both views.
• Toulmin: The Toulmin method helps you to dive deep and break your argument into smaller chunks for a more thorough analysis.

Any time you want to persuade someone, argue your point or prove something to be true (or false), the argumentative style should be your go-to structure. You can also cite your sources quickly and easily with our AI Writing tool .

Comparison and Contrast Writing Structure

The comparison and contrast (also known as “comparative” or “compare and contrast”) structure, helps to put two points or ideas side by side so that you can examine their similarities and differences.

This method is more commonly used in research papers, essays, and articles, and is perfect for academic writing and analysis. For example, you can use this structure to analyze literature, historical events, or scientific concepts.

Persuasive writing may sound similar to the argumentative structure. However, instead of favoring one side over the other or proving your point, you’re persuading people one way or another by showing the similarities and differences between certain subjects.

You can do this by using point-by-point comparison, where you match up a feature of something with the counterpart of the other. For example, if you’re comparing two cars, you would match them on the same points – fuel efficiency, design, safety features – and mention which one comes out on top.

On the other hand, you can use the block structure, where you discuss every component of one thing before you move on to the other. Using the same car example, you can think of it as discussing all the features of the first car before giving a breakdown of the second car in a separate section.

Problem and Solution Writing Structure

The problem and solution (PAS) structure is an excellent way to structure any type of writing style – but it’s especially effective for academic writing. When you use this method, it acts as a guide for your readers and helps to walk them through issues. It does this by first identifying the problem, looking at different perspectives, and then exploring possible solutions.

You can use the PAS method with other writing structures, like persuasive or logical writing. With persuasive writing, you can use this method to showcase your expertise in an area and persuade your reader to use a specific solution. On the other hand, you can use logical writing to smoothly transition from the problem to the possible solutions to the problem.

A good example of this structure is writing about the scenario of planning a high school event. Finding a date and time that works with everyone’s schedules and other commitments they have can be tricky, and therefore presents a problem.

To explore all of the different perspectives, you could discuss how everyone feels about the proposed date and time before presenting your solution: having everyone write their schedules down in a shared calendar to see which day would work best for everyone involved.

Cause and Effect Writing Structure

The cause and effect writing structure is often confused with comparison and contrast. However, unlike other forms, cause and effect helps you to outline a chain reaction. Simply put, it makes it easier to explain why something has happened, and what followed this event.

For example, a bakery discontinued a product (cause), which led to a drop in its sales (effect). You can also use statistics or other proof to show how these two events are related:

Bakery X discontinued its blueberry muffin cupcakes, which made up 5% of their profits in the month of August. In September and October, Bakery X lost 5% of their profits each month.

With this structure, you can start your writing with a simple introduction and then dive into the main points or causes before backing them up with evidence. After, you can connect the dots between the causes and the effects that they had using more detail and evidence.

While the structure of cause and effect may be similar to a comparison, it has its own structure where you relay the cause and effect in order. So, instead of comparing the amount of sales that the bakery had done in August and September or October, you’re showing the link between the “why” (the discontinued product) and the “what” (decreased sales numbers).

Categorical Writing Structure

So, what do you do when your writing doesn’t need to follow a specific structure or order to make sense? For instance, if you’re writing about the 10 best novels for young adults, the order in which you mention them isn’t all that important. Instead, your focus is on giving the same amount of information on each of the books.

When you want to write about several topics that are all equally important, your best move is to use a categorical structure. All you need to do is make sure that you’ve covered all of the topics or subjects in your writing.

Keeping with the same book example as before, you would need to cover all 10 of the books you’ve chosen to write about. But it’s also important that you include the same information (author, genre, plot, length, etc.) for each one for this structure to work.

Since this structure is more flexible, it’s easy to put all of your ideas onto your page without having to craft the perfect order.

Sequence Writing Structure

The sequence or sequential writing structure is like the fraternal twin of the chronological structure since it also groups things into a pattern or sequence of events. However, sequence writing is all about details or instructions rather than a timeline.

The easiest way to spot a sequence structure is to look out for step-by-step processes. And, if you’re writing about these processes, it’s the best method to use to keep your readers following along and engaged with what you’re telling them.

Imagine a how-to guide on putting furniture together or baking a cake. Both of these scenarios would call for step-by-step instructions since they would need to be done in a certain order for you to get the result that you want.

In blog posts, you might see these steps written down next to a numbered sequence. But in an essay, you will typically use words like “Firstly”, “Secondly”, “Next”, or “Finally”. Of course, words like “Next” or “Then” can become really repetitive, which is where Smodin’s AI Paraphrasing tool may come in handy – it can help you rewrite or rephrase your work without sounding monotonous.

Narrative Writing Structure

A narrative structure is the backbone of storytelling. Without a compelling narrative, you really don’t have a story at all – it’s all just words that make no sense or that lead nowhere. Generally, this structure follows a narrative ‘arc’ and includes the following features:

• Exposition: The introduction of characters and settings.
• Rising action: This helps to build tension and conflict within your stories.
• Climax: The climax is the story’s turning point – the peak of all the events.
• Falling action: Resolving any tension or conflicts that were introduced before the climax.
• Denouement: Ending the story and tying up loose ends.

Using a narrative structure sets the pace of a story and makes it easy for your reader to understand. It’s fantastic for coherence and hooking the reader in when something resonates with them. Ultimately, it guides them through the story and makes them want to keep reading instead of losing interest.

Choosing the right writing structure is essential for more effective communication through the written word. Now, with all the right tools in your writing toolkit, you can pick the structure that most suits your writing style and the content of your essays or any other writing project you might have.

From organizational structures like chronological or sequence to persuasive structures like argumentative or comparison and contrast, you can use these methods to boost your writing skills. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always Smodin AI to help you get your writing projects started!

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Oregon news menu, oregon news, uo’s mat johnson gains visibility with invisible things.

Turns out that even in space, politics feel just like they do at home.

Partisan tribes living on a moon of Jupiter shout at one another in the sci-fi world of Invisible Things , the new novel by Mat Johnson, an author, screenwriter, and Philip H. Knight Chair at the University of Oregon.

The bubble city of New Roanoke functions like any American city, protagonist Nalini Jackson explains, “with a largely bifurcated political culture.”

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Invisible Things , Penguin Random House, 2022

New Roanoke is dominated by the Founders Party and the Party of the People. But Jackson, a sociologist, realizes the two-party system is a fallacy—she’s observed nuanced political subgroups: the miserable Malcontents, the “don’t care” Floater majority, and the privileged, upper-class Beneficiaries, for example. Power belongs to whoever can control the narrative about the city’s origin.  

But how far will they go to push their agenda? How far will Americans go?

“I go into a book with a question, and if I’m lucky I get closer to the answer by the end,” says Johnson, whose literary talents are gaining visibility and supporting his work as an educator. Loving Day (2015) graced the cover of the New York Times Book Review and 2022’s Invisible Things , his fifth novel, won praise from the Washington Post , the Los Angeles Times , and NPR’s Fresh Air , where he’s become a regular contributor. Johnson is a recipient of an American Book Award and the United States Artist James Baldwin Fellowship. When he’s not on campus, Johnson’s at work on scripts for Apple TV+ and Netflix, among other producers.

Johnson wrote Invisible Things partly in 2020 and 2021, as Americans fought over the facts of a global pandemic, human-caused climate change, the integrity of the voting system, and the nation’s legacy of slavery. Some accepted widely held truths; others doubled down on denialism.

Johnson asks: what will wake people from their partisan trance and accept the existential crisis facing many Americans—and especially Black Americans such as him?

How about invisible forces crushing skulls?

Johnson orients the allegorical Invisible Things around deadly, unseen, all-powerful aliens as surrogates for the inconvenient truths that underpin our society and influence our lives. If we try to deny they exist, they might just kill us. In fiction as in real life, whether we choose to acknowledge these truths places us with a group, a tribe. Facts wax political.

From Columbia University, with a Style Tailor-made for Twitter

Born in Philadelphia in the early ’70s to a White father and a Black mother, Johnson says mixed-race identity wasn’t an established concept. Though he saw his father regularly, he mostly grew up with his mother in a Black neighborhood. Light-skinned, Johnson looks White, but because he was raised culturally African American, he says, the White world was largely inaccessible to him.

Books, however, were.

“I had a lot of time alone, and I got really into story,” Johnson says. “I was not a strong reader early, so my mother got me to finally learn to read and keep it going by buying me comic books.”

Comics were his first literary love, eventually leading to paperbacks. Johnson earned a bachelor’s in English at Earlham College and a master’s in creative writing at Columbia University. Needing cash, he started teaching soon after, first at Columbia, then Bard College. He taught creative writing at the University of Houston from 2007 to 2018, then joined the English and creative writing departments in the UO College of Arts and Sciences.

Johnson was surprised to find himself a professional writer. “I didn’t decide I really wanted to write,” he says, “until I realized I just didn’t want to do anything else nearly as much.”

For people of color, getting recognition as a writer used to be about satisfying a specific taste at the publishing house, Johnson says—and there wasn’t a huge appetite. “I didn’t fit into the mold of what a Black writer would be; I didn’t look particularly Black, “Johnson says, “so I was not going to be that one.”

“The style of writing I was doing—satirical, quick, funny—translated really well to Twitter,” he says. With more than 80,000 followers , Johnson used Twitter to circumvent the literary gatekeepers who dictate what is promoted to critics.

The Twitter reaction ultimately helped Johnson embrace his voice.

“One of the things I try to emphasize with my mentees is that you don’t get to be the writer you want to be; that your success is based on how well you become the writer that you are,” Johnson says. “It was a big moment for me to accept that, to accept I’m not Toni Morrison.”

Inspiration in the Creative Writing Program

A. J. Rodriguez, a mentee who graduated last spring with an MFA in creative writing, says Johnson’s ability to help writers hone their voice was invaluable to him, especially as a Chicano writer who wanted to tell his community’s stories.

“Mat understands that each writer has a different heart beating within their work,” Rodriguez says. “So rather than fashion his students’ art along some uniform standard of craft, he allows it to come to life by helping the writer tap into its emotional pulse.”

Jen Li, another 2022 MFA graduate, calls Johnson “brilliant” and says as a writer of color, she’s fortunate to have worked with him.

“He encouraged me not to give up—to keep writing because these are the stories that are important to me,” Li says, “which means that they are important to the world as well.”

Showrunner for Showtime

Along with teaching creative writing to undergrads and graduate students, Johnson is also a faculty member in the first-of-its-kind Comics and Cartoon Studies program (he’s published five graphic novels).

Johnson’s chops as a visual storyteller and budding screenwriter have deepened his teaching. After Loving Day was optioned for a series by Showtime, Johnson learned to be a showrunner, a role that made him the story director. The project was discontinued but the experience taught him he enjoyed the work of leading a writers’ circle. Now regularly working in Hollywood, he’s developing several scripts for series.

Johnson believes screenwriting keeps him relevant for students today.

“Research institutions like the UO want people who are actually doing things in the field in a big way,” Johnson says. “So it’s not like I have a side job. I’m doing something else that makes me more attractive to the students who are here and to grad students who are going to be applying.”

—By Anna Glavash Miller, MS '18 (journalism), College of Arts and Sciences Illustration by Shalom Yemane-Berhane, art and technology major, class of 2023 Photos by Dustin Whitaker, University Communications

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Emmys 2024: list of nominees.

'Shogun' leads the nominations, which were unveiled Wednesday morning. Other top nominees include 'The Bear,' 'Only Murders in the Building,' 'True Detective: Night Country' and 'The Crown.'

By Hilary Lewis , Kimberly Nordyke July 17, 2024 9:54am

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Shogun leads the pack for the 2024 Emmys nominations, which were unveiled Wednesday morning. FX’s series landed 25 noms, including best drama series , setting several records in the process.

Also among the top nominees are FX’s The Bear (with 23 nominations, a comedy series record ), Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (21), HBO/Max’s True Detective: Night Country (19) and Netflix’s The Crown (18).

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Emmy nominations 2024: historic, record-breaking and otherwise notable nominees, emmys nominate 22 performers featured in thr's annual roundtable series.

Tony Hale, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Television Academy chair Cris Abrego announced this year’s nominees from the El Capitan Theatre in a ceremony that was livestreamed . During the livestream, Abrego gave Abbott Elementary star Ralph the news that she had received another Emmy nom this year for best supporting actress in a comedy series, an award she won in 2022.

The 76th Emmys are set to air live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on ABC. The Creative Arts ceremonies, where a majority of the Emmy trophies are handed out, are set for Saturday, Sept. 7, and Sunday, Sept. 8. A host for the ABC Emmys ceremony has not yet been named, but Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay are set to executive produce the telecast for the second year in a row.

The 2023 Emmys actually took place in January 2024, with the ceremony postponed due to the 2023 writers and actors strikes and airing on Monday, Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on Fox. At that event, HBO’s Succession , FX’s The Bear and Netflix’s Beef were the big winners, taking home the top prizes in the drama, comedy and limited series categories, respectively. All three shows also won for writing and directing. With the 2023 Emmys honoring Succession’s final season, the drama field will see a new winner this year.

In order to be eligible for the 2024 Emmys, television programming had to air between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024.

Best Drama Series

The Crown (Netflix) Fallout (Prime Video) The Gilded Age (HBO) The Morning Show (Apple TV+) Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime Video) Shogun (FX) Slow Horses (Apple TV+) 3 Body Problem (Netflix)

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Carrie Coon ( The Gilded Age, HBO/Max) Maya Erskine ( Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Prime Video) Anna Sawai ( Shogun, FX)  Imelda Staunton ( The Crown, Netflix) Reese Witherspoon ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+)

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Idris Elba ( Hijack, Apple TV+) Donald Glover ( Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Prime Video) Walton Goggins ( Fallout, Prime Video) Gary Oldman ( Slow Horses, Apple TV+)  Hiroyuki Sanada ( Shogun, FX) Dominic West ( The Crown, Netflix)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Christine Baranski ( The Gilded Age, HBO/Max) Nicole Beharie ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Elizabeth Debicki ( The Crown, Netflix) Greta Lee ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Lesley Manville ( The Crown, Netflix) Karen Pittman ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Holland Taylor ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Tadanobu Asano ( Shogun, FX) Billy Crudup ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Mark Duplass ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Jon Hamm ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Takehiro Hira ( Shogun, FX) Jack Lowden ( Slow Horses, Apple TV+) Jonathan Pryce ( The Crown, Netflix)

Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Best guest actress in a drama series.

Michaela Coel ( Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video) Claire Foy ( The Crown, Netflix) Marcia Gay Harden ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Sarah Paulson ( Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video) Parker Posey ( Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video)

Best Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)  The Bear (FX) Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO/Max) Hacks (HBO/Max) Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) Palm Royale (Apple TV+) Reservation Dogs (FX) What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Matt Berry ( What We Do in the Shadows, FX) Larry David ( Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO/Max) Steve Martin ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu) Martin Short ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu) Jeremy Allen White ( The Bear, FX) D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai ( Reservation Dogs, FX)

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson ( Abbott Elementary, ABC) Ayo Edebiri ( The Bear, FX) Selena Gomez ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu)  Maya Rudolph ( Loot, Apple TV+) Jean Smart ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Kristen Wiig ( Palm Royale, Apple TV+)  

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 

Lionel Boyce ( The Bear, FX) Paul W. Downs ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Ebon Moss-Bachrach ( The Bear, FX) Paul Rudd ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu) Tyler James Williams ( Abbott Elementary, ABC) Bowen Yang ( Saturday Night Live , NBC)

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 

Best guest actor in a comedy series.

Jon Bernthal ( The Bear, FX) Matthew Broderick ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu) Ryan Gosling ( Saturday Night Live, NBC) Christopher Lloyd ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Bob Odenkirk ( The Bear, FX)
 Will Poulter ( The Bear, FX)

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Olivia Colman ( The Bear, FX) Jamie Lee Curtis ( The Bear , FX) Kaitlin Olson ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Da’Vine Joy Randolph ( Only Murders in the Building, Hulu) Maya Rudolph ( Saturday Night Live, NBC) Kristen Wiig ( Saturday Night Live, NBC)

Best Limited or Anthology Series

Baby Reindeer (Netflix) Fargo (FX) Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+) Ripley (Netflix) True Detective: Night Country (HBO/Max)

Best Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Matt Bomer ( Fellow Travelers, Showtime) Richard Gadd ( Baby Reindeer, Netflix) Jon Hamm ( Fargo, FX) Tom Hollander ( Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, FX) Andrew Scott ( Ripley, Netflix)

Best Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Jodie Foster ( True Detective: Night Country, HBO/Max) Brie Larson ( Lessons in Chemistry, Apple TV+)  Juno Temple ( Fargo, FX) Sofía Vergara ( Griselda, Netflix)  Naomi Watts ( Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, FX)

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie.

Dakota Fanning ( Ripley, Netflix) Lily Gladstone ( Under the Bridge, Hulu) Jessica Gunning ( Baby Reindeer, Netflix) Aja Naomi King ( Lessons in Chemistry, Apple TV+) Diane Lane ( Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, FX) Nava Mau ( Baby Reindeer, Netflix) Kali Reis ( True Detective: Night Country, HBO/Max)

Best Directing for a Drama Series

Stephen Daldry ( The Crown, Netflix) Mimi Leder ( The Morning Show, Apple TV+) Hiro Murai ( Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video)
 Frederick E.O. Toye ( Shogun, FX) Saul Metzstein ( Slow Horses, Apple TV+) Salli Richardson-Whitfield (W inning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, HBO/Max)

Best Directing for a Comedy Series

Randall Einhorn ( Abbott Elementary, ABC)
 Christopher Storer ( The Bear, FX) Ramy Youssef ( The Bear, FX)
 Guy Ritchie ( The Gentlemen, Netflix) Lucia Aniello ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Mary Lou Belli ( The Ms. Pat Show, BET)

Best Writing for a Drama Series

Peter Morgan, Meriel Sheibani-Clare ( The Crown, Netflix)
 Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Graham Wagner ( Fallout, Prime Video) Francesca Sloane, Donald Glover ( Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video) Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks ( Shogun, FX)
 Rachel Kondo, Caillin Puente ( Shogun, FX) Will Smith ( Slow Horses, Apple TV+)

Best Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Best writing for a comedy series.


Quinta Brunson ( Abbott Elementary, ABC) Christopher Storer ( The Bear, FX) Meredith Scardino, Sam Means ( Girls5eva, Netflix) Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky ( Hacks, HBO/Max) Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider ( The Other Two, HBO/Max) Jake Bender, Zach Dunn ( What We Do in the Shadows, FX)

Best Talk Series

The Daily Show (Comedy Central) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC) The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS)

Best Reality Competition Series

The Amazing Race (CBS) RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV) Top Chef (Bravo) The Traitors (Peacock) The Voice (NBC)

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