It is great to master the art of writing so that your style could enthrall your potential audiences and keep them glued to your copy till the last line. Irrespective of the ingrained technicalities, all the writing styles have several elements in common, such as direct language, simplicity of words, and ideal length of a sentence – neither too short nor too long.
As obvious, an arrangement of words in the text is much akin to the arrangement of beads in a necklace. Beauty has to be the ultimate result in either case. So, is your style of writing captivating enough? If yes, the tips and style guides here will help to spruce up your skills further. Else, you will end up learning something good.
What are different writing styles you should know?
Depending on the purpose of the content, the techniques and types of writing change significantly. For instance, the writing tone for a landing page and a blog would be poles apart. When writing any text, you are likely to follow any of the different types of writing styles. You can also check Wikipedia reference on the subject matter.
1. Descriptive style writing
As the name suggests, descriptive writing describes an event or a story that creates the entire scenario in the reader’s mind. The writer adopts verbs, adjectives, metaphors, similes, etc., to inject life into his creations through this style.
When writing a biography, an essay, poems, lyrics, an autobiography, a personal diary, or journals, you are more likely to use a descriptive writing style. Good descriptive writing is evocative, plausible, and concrete.
Here are some examples of descriptive writing style to give you a better picture.
- Example 1: Her smile emerged as a ray of hope amid the darkness of the lunar eclipse.
- Example 2: Consider this excerpt from Alfred Tennyson’s poem, “The Eagle,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.”
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Notice the power and authority in the descriptive words.
2. Expository style writing
One of the widely used writing styles requires the writer to explain something to the audience based on proven facts, statistics, and other evidence. It does not contain the author’s individual opinion; instead, it mostly answers the readers’ questions.
The expository writing style comes in handy in writing school textbooks, educational articles, news articles, research papers, instruction manuals, newsletters for employees, cookbooks, nonfiction books, etc.
Let’s look at these examples –
- Example 1: Joe Biden is the new president of the United States of America. He defeated Donald Trump in a close finish in the 2020 presidential elections.
- Example 2: The Australian Open is an annual lawn tennis event played over January’s last fortnight in Australia. In the recently concluded 2021 season in Melbourne Park, Novak Djokovic clinched the Men’s title, and Naomi Osaka won the Women’s single title of the Grand Slam tournament.
3. Narrative style writing
The narrative style is common in longer writing pieces where the writer intends to narrate a story through gripping words. It could be fiction or even nonfiction where the author intends to create and communicate an accomplished story, engrossed with settings, conflicts, characters, and plots.
It is one of the most preferred writing to jot down novels, novellas, screenplays, anecdotes, biographies, mythology, oral histories, short stories, etc.
Here are two examples of expository writing style to explain the context further.
- Example 1: As he heard noises, he went close to the balcony. To his amusement, the entire space consisted of beautiful roses, and one of them was in the hand of a cute little fairy. She uttered, “Happy Birthday,” and vanished.
- Example 2: The extract from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is a nice example of narrative type of writing.
“Bow to the Board,” said Bumble. Oliver brushed away two or three tears that were lingering in his eyes, and seeing no board but the table, fortunately, bowed to that. – Source: The Literature Network
4. Persuasive writing style
The persuasive writing type intends at influencing the readers and convincing them to adopt the author’s opinion or belief. It includes justifications and reasons to prove the writer’s viewpoint and win the audience.
It often includes several other types of writing styles as well, for instance, narrative style in a political speech. Persuasive is one of the most popular writing styles, used religiously for academic papers, advertising copy, editorial writing, letters of recommendation, speeches, product reviews, and more.
Let’s look at the examples of persuasive writing style –
- Example 1: Vote for our candidate; he has done more good than any other for our state.
- Example 2: With the Super Retina XDR display, the powerful Apple-designed A13 Bionic chip for unmatched performance, and the new triple-camera system, iPhone 11 Pro Max is the best smartphone to buy today.
And here are 7 tips to improve your writing style
While these four types of writing styles guide your way to smooth, meaningful and interactive writing, several tips could also prove effective in brushing up your skills.
- Follow a noteworthy writing style guide: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White’s, and Thomas S. Kane’s The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing would be ideal in this context.
- Write precisely: You could follow any of the writing styles, but in every case, it is important to write concisely and clearly. It is better to avoid loose sentence constructs, redundant words, phrases, etc.
- The sentence length: While too short sentences often appear incomplete, excessively long sentences simply kill the intent. Hence, it is good to write a sentence of around 1 to 1.5 lines, which could be easier to comprehend.
- Shorter paragraphs: Unless necessary, it is ideal for keeping your paragraphs more concise, i.e., of around 3-4 lines. You can manage them easily and create a visual appeal the better way.
- Active voice: Since an active voice is direct, it conveys the meaning straight away, unlike the passive voice. “I am doing something” feels better than “I am doing something.” Isn’t it? Using passive voice deems as one of the most common errors writers make. Skim through our guide here that exhibits some very usual grammar mistakes every one of us makes.
- Proofreading and Editing: Before asking a professional editor to review and edit your copy, it is always good to edit your draft firsthand on your own. It’s also important to check your content for plagiarism. We have prepared a handy guide that explains how to avoid plagiarism from your content.
- Get inspired by favorite authors: Being a good reader increases your chances of being a good writer. So, make a habit of reading your preferred writers and try to imitate those writing styles in your draft.
Wrapping up our writing styles guide
Do you wear the same type of dress for a wedding party and while traveling? Do you eat the same type of food in a restaurant and at home? Of course, not! The same applies to your writing as well. Yes, the writing styles differ as per the genre you are working on, such as a blog, business collateral, web content, an email, or even a romantic love letter.
The tone, the vocabulary, and the length; in short, you have an altogether distinct style for every type of writing. Isn’t it? Indeed, not all the balls can fit in the same bag. Therefore, it is important to know the different writing styles and abide by them to sharpen your skills. Alongside, being aware of handy writing tips is equally essential to make your style an exuberant one.