Are you maybe wondering what types of writing styles exist? Or even better, how to create your own?
When it comes to writing style, it is challenging to define one.
That is because writing is so personal and genuine from person to person — almost like a fingerprint.
At the same time, the writing style is something that doesn’t show up overnight. So you need to build and nurture it until it becomes memorable, recognizable, and acknowledgeable (no pressure).
And to help you create your own, we'll talk about the different types of writing styles, look at examples from famous authors, and give you ideas on how to try new things in your own writing.
Let’s take a tour!
What are Writing Styles?
A writing style refers to the specific way of writing that an author uses to express his thoughts, send a message, or offer a solution to his audience.
We already mentioned that writing style is like a fingerprint — you will not find two people worldwide who wrote the same thing on the same topic. That never happened.
Why do you think that is? Perhaps we can find a hint in the following quote:
“There has to be a certain relationship between the life and the writing style, and that is really a problem.” ~ Simone de Beauvoir
Each author writes in his or her own way. With that said, each author will also have a different effect on the reader.
Writing styles show how a writer gets points across, including the author's choice of words, sentence structure, literary devices, etc.
This brings us to the types of writing styles.
Types of Writing Styles With Examples
Various content types determine the preferred writing styles, including books, journals, essays, academic research, technical instructions, articles, ads, and more.
That style depends on the purpose of the content you want to write for your audience.
Today, we’ll list 13 types of writing styles:
1. Expository Writing
One of the most common types of writing is to explain something — an expository writing style.
When an author uses this writing style, he tries to explain a concept and share information with a wider audience.
Expository writing doesn't include the author's opinions. Instead, it focuses on accepted facts about a topic, such as statistics or other proof.
Expository writing style includes:
- Textbooks
- How-to articles
- Recipes
- News stories (not editorials or Op-Eds)
- Business, technical, or scientific writing
2. Descriptive Writing
Most of the time, descriptive writing authors use in fiction, but it can also be found in nonfiction (for example, memoirs, first-hand accounts of events, or travel guides).
With this writing style, authors use words to give their readers a clear picture of a person, place, food, etc.
The author might use metaphors or other literary elements to discuss how their five senses made them feel (what they hear, see, smell, taste, or touch).
But the author isn't trying to persuade the reader of anything or explain what's going on. Instead, he is just telling how things are.
Descriptive writing style includes:
- Poetry
- Journal/diary writing
- Descriptions of Nature
- Fictional novels or plays
3. Persuasive Writing
The persuasive writing style is mostly used in academic papers.
In this type of writing, the writer uses it to convince the reader that a particular point of view or argument is correct.
Justifications and facts to support an opinion are essential to persuasive writing.
Persuasive writing type includes:
- Reviews of items
- Letters of complaint
- Letters of recommendation
- Advertisements
- Cover letters
- Op-Eds and Editorials in the newspaper
- Argumentative essays for school papers
4. Narrative Writing
This style is often used for longer pieces of writing (fiction or nonfiction), and its goal is to share information through a story.
With a narrative writing style, authors tell a story using characters, conflicts, and other settings.
- Oral histories
- Novels/Novellas
- Poetry (especially epic sagas or poems)
- Short Stories
- Anecdotes
5. Creative Writing
The creative writing style is free from existing writing structures — the author can choose how he wants to convey his thoughts or ideas.
The goal of a creative writing style is to surprise the reader by telling a story in a completely different way (making things up is allowed) and being as creative as he can be.
Creative writing style includes:
- Biographies
- Screenwriting
- Script-writing
- Flash fiction
- Creative nonfiction
6. Objective Writing
Objective writing is a form of writing that is supported by established facts and pieces of evidence. The included material must be accurate scientifically and statistically.
In addition, the author must maintain objectivity so that readers can draw their own judgments.
This type of writing must be fact-based and devoid of any emotional content.
Authors are encouraged not to exaggerate their descriptions and to maintain consistency.
Objective writing style includes:
- Text for educational purposes
- Assertive texts
7. Subjective Writing
Subjective writing displays the author's values, preferences, worldviews, emotions, and opinions. Therefore, the author need not worry about the accuracy or correctness of the text.
The author's personal experiences and observations of their surroundings are the sources of this writing style.
Including the author's private thoughts gives the reader insight into the author's ideas.
Subjective writing style includes:
- Travelogues
- Blogs
- Opinionated pieces
8. Review Writing
A review writing style is a form of writing where the author evaluates things, whether a restaurant, food, a book, a movie, or something else.
This kind of writing has become even more significant in the age of digitalization. For example, people rarely consider online purchases and restaurant reservations without first reviewing online reviews.
Review writing style includes:
- Product reviews
- Service reviews
- Book reviews
9. Poetic Writing
Authors use poetic writing style to tell a story or express an idea using rhyme, rhythm, and meter. It is a versatile literary style that applies to fiction.
Additionally, this writing style naturally employs poetic tropes like similes and metaphors.
Poetic writing style includes:
- Novels
- Poetry
- Plays
- Short stories
10. Technical Writing
The essence of technical writing is writing on a specific issue that is factual and logical or about a scientific purpose.
The technical writing style uses facts and data that are objective, unemotional, and meant solely to enlighten the reader.
Technical writing style includes:
- User-manuals
- Medical articles
- Textbooks
11. Business Writing
Business writing is one of the writing genres where the language is brief and on-point.
The purpose of this writing type is to meet the reader's needs or provide pertinent information supported by facts and proof.
While using this form of writing style, the reader should understand the text's main idea and purpose in the first sentence alone. The sentences must be clear and concise.
Business writing style includes:
- Formal emails
- Client proposals
- Outside business associates
- Business plans
12. Blogging Writing
One of the most common writing formats in use today is blogging.
As technology progresses, blogging has become a one-stop shop for all forms of information.
Blogging uses a less professional tone than other sorts of writing, with concise paragraphs and sentences that are easy to understand.
This makes the text simpler to read and understand.
Blogging writing style includes:
- Articles about health and wellness
- Entrepreneurship tips and tricks
13. Entertainment Writing
Entertainment writing is a style in which the author attempts to amuse the audience. This does not always imply a happy event — it can also describe a catastrophe while remaining entertaining.
Entertainment writing style has the greatest number of readers among the other writing genres.
Entertainment writing style includes:
- Movie scripts
- Short stories
- Storylines
How To Create Your Own Writing Style?
“You have to know writing styles well before you can copy them – and then incorporate parts of them into your own style.” ~ Josh Lieb
Before we get to the advice on how to create your own writing style, here are the fundamental elements to consider before deciding on your writing style:
- Requirement — Depending on your ideas and expectations, try to compare mentioned writing styles and recognize which one will fit best to the content type you want to create.
- Formality level — Whether you write in a casual or formal tone, you should stick to one tone of writing once you start.
- Language complexity — Writing skills are an essential element of a writing career. Try to figure out how complex the writing style you want your content to be.
- The tone of voice — The tone of voice you use in your content will determine to a large extent, who will be interested in it.
Now that you are all set up, it is time to get into content writing and start freelancing (even without experience).
Since manual practice is time-consuming, it would help if you could get some assistance on that writing style adventure, right?
Well, let me tell you a secret — even professional writers utilize AI writing tools in their writing process.
It can boost your writing skills in no time, take over repetitive tasks, help your paraphrase your thoughts for better content and create any content type you need.
Where is the catch?
Nothing can replace manual writing — it is slow but enables you to progress in your own time.
On the other hand, AI writing tools provide limitless opportunities for practice.
Let me show you how.
Some AI writing tools, such as TextCortex, offer web application and Chrome rewriting extensions.
And that is a relief because, in that scenario, you are not limited to one platform, but also you get to practice different writing styles simultaneously.
For example, you can create template emails for your business writing style in a web application using the 'Outreach email’ feature.
To generate an email, just choose the type of email you want to create, specify the goaland hit the ‘Create’ button.
The ‘Creativity’ level will define the tone of the output the AI writer generates for you. Since the scale goes from Low to Best, the recommendation is to stick to the golden middle for best results (Medium and High).
You can twerk these settings and generate content as often as you need.
The same creation flexibility goes for other features such as blog writing, marketing copies, ads, product descriptions, etc.
On the other hand, If you want to rewrite the output for a different tone, better clarity, or even different language, you can use the TextCortex rewriting extension and paraphrase it on the spot.
Once you get the desirable outcome, save your project as a template for future use.
Moreover, you can generate emails with Chrome rewriting extension from any text box on 30+ platforms.
Set your main point as bullets, select the text, click on the logo, and hit on the ‘Bullets to email’ icon.
You can use rewriting extension for features such as paraphrasing, bullets to email, expanding text and blog body creation.
Are you ready to start your free ride and explore TextCortex some more?
Sign up today and claim 15 free daily creations to gain exclusive access to all features and witness how TextCorex can skyrocket your writing skills in no time!