Your rubric or competency often will provide hints for what style you are expected to write. Unlike your personal writing voice, and the unique choices you can make there, certain styles of writing are prescribed, set in stone, classic, just the way they are. Understanding the basics of some core writing styles can start you off on the right foundation, so you can focus more on why you’re writing and less on how you are writing.
Expository
The why of expository work is to inform the reader. Writers of this style use explanation, logical order, and sequence. This type of writing is often seen in textbooks, technical or business articles, how-to articles, and recipes. Forms of analysis (critical, literary, comparison) all fall in this category. This style...
- Does not include opinions, but figures, facts, and clear examples
- Is often written in an essay format
- Is written with a progressive, logical order, starting with an introduction and informative thesis
- Uses research when writing in this style
- Provides citations from outside sources; academic writing usually relies on scholarly sources.
Persuasive
The why of persuasion is to convince. The writer takes a stand, has an argument and provides several reasons why their audience should do their proposed course of action. While some forms of persuasion use “I” voice and opinion, avoid this unless your assignment or competency calls for it specifically. This type of writing is often seen in editorial pieces, political speeches, reviews, letters of recommendation, cover letters, persuasive research essays, and commercial and television writing. This style...
- Uses reason, logic, arguments, and persuasive devices which appeal to the readers thoughts, emotions, and/or values
- Often includes a stance (assertion) and a claim (call to action)
- Includes information, data, and facts to support viewpoints
- Often addresses the opposing viewpoint, or counterargument (the opposite of the essay’s main argument)
- Provides citations from outside sources; academic writing relies usually on scholarly sources
Descriptive
Unsurprisingly, the why of this style is to describe a person/object. Description helps the reader see, feel, hear, and taste what the narrator does. Metaphors and similes are often used and the writing is poetic in nature. This type of writing can be seen in journaling, nature writing, poetry, vignettes, and descriptive pages in fiction. This style...
- Uses senses like taste, smell, see and touch (i.e., a soft, warm, purring kitten)
- Relies on the use of great detail; it’s not afraid of adjectives!
- Is usually short in length, due to the weight of each word
Narrative
This style tells the story of characters and events. The focus of narrative is to use a full story arc to convey meaning. Far from being a story for the sake of a story, narrative essays and pieces should focus on meaningful events and characters. This type of writing is often seen in biographies, autobiographies, novels, and short stories. This style...
- Usually includes dialogue
- Has a defined beginning, middle and end
- Incorporates conflict, struggle, and resolution (has a plot)
- Incorporate the who, what, when, where, why and how of the story
- Often places the writer herself as narrator, telling the story using “I” voice and other personal pronouns
- Can use an implied or clearly stated narrative thesis (i.e., “My experience that summer helped me learn the value of family”)
This is not an exhaustive list of styles, but an overview. Be sure to check out our small group and workshop offerings for more in-depth discussions of style, or click the links above for more resources you can use anytime!
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