Why does it matter? Can’t I write however I want?

There are four general stylistic categories that writing falls into. Knowing which type you fall into is essential, as it will support your writing goals.

These different types of writing styles are differentiated by their purpose. Writers will use one of these available styles while also incorporating their writer’s voice:

Descriptive writing

A descriptive style uses figurative language and sensory details to paint a picture in a reader’s mind. Poets use this type of writing style in their work.

Examples:

• “We are still nearer the winter edge of spring on this cool and misty May afternoon, the scent of wood smoke in the air — a remnant of the afternoon fire.” 
  – David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction
• “She watched the thick, clear plastic sheeting covering the hole on the roof rise and fall in tune with the wintry blasts like the last gasps of a dying man.” 
  – Jim Lowe, New Reform

Expository writing

An expository writing style is used for delivering facts and information rather than storytelling. Examples of expository writing include nonfiction books, scientific writing, technical writing, and news articles.

• “Like a 10-speed bike, most of us have gears we do not use.”
  – Charles Schulz
• “To write is to taste life twice.”
  – Anaïs Nin

Persuasive writing

A persuasive writing style influences readers to adopt the writer’s point of view. Examples of persuasive writing include letters of recommendation, academic writing, and cover letters.

• “For your own good is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction.”
  – Janet Frame
• “Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.”
  – Daniel J. Boorstin

Narrative writing

Narrative style has a plot, characters, and setting and is used in creative writing. It is the style writers use to craft a fiction story, such as a novel, novella, or screenplay. Examples of narrative writing style include Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.

• “A woman knows very well that, though a wit sends her his poems, praises her judgment, solicits her criticism, and drinks her tea, this by no means signifies that he respects her opinions, admires her understanding, or will refuse, though the rapier is denied him, to run through the body with his pen.”
  – Virginia Woolf, Orlando

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By Shelby Jones