8 COMMON WRITING STYLES AND WHEN TO USE THEM.

What is a writing style?

A style in writing is a unique way for a writer to communicate effectively with the audience.

Imagine you are in a group chat and you can instantly recognize who the text message came from without seeing that person’s name. Once you familiarize yourself with writing styles from that group chat, it is easy to know who the writer is.

Writing styles are used in our daily lives and in many sectors and fields such as schools, businesses, hospitals, government offices, entertainment sector just to name a few.

These writing styles will depend on what information you are passing on and who your audience is. Communications change due to the author’s needs at that moment. I am going to explain to you the types of writing styles and when to use them, below.

Argumentative

This is a style that is used to create an argument. Arguments will draw the attention of the readers who are open to giving their opinion on the topic or information being passed to them.

It is commonly used in school discussions and subjects such as mathematics, and most research papers. Creating an argument allows the audience to discuss and come up with a conclusion and therefore recommend a solution to the problem.

Persuasive

Persuasive writing is simply convincing someone to do a certain task. It is commonly used in editorials, speeches, and advertisements. The writer’s language should persuade the reader to take action.

An example in an advertisement is business marketing where copywriting comes in. the company will use copies and emails to increase the number of buyers of their products.

In this case, the language used should be able to convince the customers. Copywriting is an example of persuasive writing that helps buyers to understand what they are buying and why they should buy the products.

Narrative

In simple terms, think about storytelling. It is a series of events that are written in a consistent manner for readers to understand the entire story. The narrative style is used to tell stories through novels, comic books, films, and short stories.

Descriptive

This style is used to describe something. People often confuse descriptive style with narrative style. Well, the difference is that descriptive is the act of stating the characteristics of something but narrative tells a story in a systematic way.

In some instances, the storyteller can describe a certain person or place or object, or situation in his /her story but that is still part of the narrative style only that a smaller portion of the story has a descriptive style in it.

In simple terms, some writing styles can be used in a similar situation but none of them serve the same purpose.

Analytical

What is analysis? It is the process of breaking down certain true information into smaller but self-contained parts. This information will then be presented for study or approved to be correct.

Take, for instance, you work in a production company as an accountant and the administration requires a quarterly report on finances. You will present your financial report that has been analyzed well with no errors (because otherwise you will be questioned). So, what you are presenting is a piece of analytical information.

This style is used in presentations such as audits and research reports.

Creative

Creative writing is a style that allows the author to experiment with different styles without any restrictions whatsoever. The writer has a chance to break free from any set structure or format.

Creative writing uses imagination and the art of ‘making things up’ to entice the audience. The author aims to create a story in a totally different way, surprising the audience.

It is commonly used in biographies, scriptwriting, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, screenwriting, etc.

Expository

When you think of this word you think of the word ‘expose’.

The expository style is meant to give factual information to the reader without offering an opinion from the author. The author can only write about given facts without necessarily giving his/her thoughts on the topic.

Take, for example, a local magazine that has printed a newspaper about the government issuing a warning to anyone who has not registered for national health insurance.

The newspaper states that a deadline has been provided by the government and that those who will miss the deadline will be fined a certain amount of money.

The information ends by giving out links to the government site for early registration. This information does not have the author’s opinion on it so it is termed as expository. It explains what the government says and not what the author thinks about the information.

This style is commonly used in non-fiction texts such as manuals, how-to guides, and encyclopedias. It is also used in business writing, instructions, and journalism papers.

Technical

This is a fact-driven type of writing that only give factual and logical information. It is direct to the point in nature and its major aim is to pass specific information.

It is majorly used in textbooks, user manuals, medical instructions, and other scientific articles.

Reviews

It is a writing style where the writer gives their opinion on products or services to offer further information to the prospective users and rather persuade them to take action. It is commonly used in businesses.

In the digital era, reviews are very important as it allows the reader to gain access to how others are views the product or service they are searching for, and also know more about it before purchasing.

Review writing has gained a lot of popularity nowadays because everyone uses online in so many ways.

Most companies have also started investing their money in reviews where they pay influencers and other people to review their products or services so as to boost attract customers and boost their sales.

Most commonly used in product reviews, service reviews, book reviews, etc.

In addition to these common styles, there are a few of the less common styles below

Definitive

This style is used to express or exhibit clearly the essential characteristics of something.

Compare and contrast

Commonly used to distinguish the differences and similarities between two or more subjects.

Cause an effect

Used to explain how one thing can cause another thing to happen.

Classification

Used to class certain subjects into categories based on their characteristics.

Processive

Used to explain how something works simultaneously.

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