Explain Different Types / Ways of Writing

Here are some common types of writing.

1-Narrative Writing
Narrative writing is basically storytelling in written form with the intent of motivating,
educating, or simply entertaining the audience. Regardless of whether the story being
told is real or fictional, narrative writing can be one of the easiest for the readers and the
most difficult for the writers.

In order to convey a story, five basic elements need to be present: plot, character,
theme, conflict, and setting Another important element of narrative writing is the point of
view of the person telling the story..

Narrative writing is a highly diverse genre that includes adventure, fantasy, mystery,
tragedy, comedy, fairy tale, myth, drama, fable, legend, science fiction, love story,
biography, autobiography, historical account, epic poems, memoirs, jokes, novels,
anecdotes, and screenplays.

Examples:

 Biography. A detailed account or description of the life of a person, which typically

includes basic facts such as childhood, education, relationships, family, career, and

death. If the biography narrates the life of a person written by another person, it is called

an autobiography.

 Fable. A narrative that usually features animals that speak and behave like human

beings that carries a moral usually formulated at the end .It also typically uses animal

characters to highlight human weaknesses and follies.

 Myth. A symbolic narrative that tells specific accounts of superhuman beings or gods at

an unspecified time, which involves extraordinary circumstances and events. While the

events being narrated in a myth are clearly in variance with the order of natural law, it
 does not attempt to explain or justify them and presents such extraordinary events with

authority

2-Descriptive Writing
Descriptive writing is akin to painting a picture with words that attempt to provide
readers with a firsthand and detailed impression of places, characters, events, etc.
Apart from describing what something looks like, the author also appeals to the other
senses of the readers such as smell, hearing, and touch. As such, authors must be
familiar with imagery definition as literary devices.

Descriptive writing is also typically injected into other types of writing because the need
to describe a place or event commonly arises in most types of literature. Adjectives and
adverbs are the most common elements used in descriptive writing. However, from time
to time, authors also utilize literary devices. As such, writers hoping to master this
writing style must also become familiar with simile and metaphor examples and other
figures of speech.

A lot of fictional pieces fall under descriptive writing such as poems, proses, lyrics, and
plays. However, this type of writing also appears a lot in nonfiction materials such as
journals, travel diaries, and memoirs.

Examples:

 Poems. A literary piece based on rhythm and interplay of words typically follows a set of

rules which dictate the arrangement and number of syllables per line. Modern poetry,

however, sometimes does away with the rules where the lines do not rhyme and

syllables do not use any meter.

 Memoir. Memoir, which comes from the French word for memory, is a piece of literature

about the author’s memory that can go all the way back to his/her childhood. While it is

more common for celebrities, world leaders, and other prominent people to write a

memoir, this is something that anyone can create.

 Diary. A diary is commonly used to record personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings,

providing a chronology of emotions linked to events (Snowden, 2015). Today, however,

 it has also become an important tool for organizing people’s personal and professional

lives.

3-Persuasive Writing
Persuasive writing, as the term suggests, is a type of literature whose objective is
persuading the audience in aligning their thoughts and actions with the author’s own
goals. The writer takes a definitive stance about something, be it pro or against, and
asks his/her audience to do the same. It is basically influencing someone to take the
author’s side in order to have the audience believe or do something favorable to
him/her.

Since the end goal is to convince someone of something, the writing is typically backed
by research, analysis, logical inferences, and studies. This means that even though the
piece heavily contains the authors’ biases and personal opinions, it still includes
reasons, justifications, and arguments to exude an objective tone.

The most common example of persuasive writing is the editorial section of newspapers.
Others include reviews of books, places, products, movies, music, etc. Cover letters,
argumentative essays, letters of complaint, letters of recommendation, and
advertisements are also part of this genre.

Example:

 Argumentative Essay. This persuasive writing piece is written in a way that develops

and evaluates arguments to initiate, embody, or simulate different kinds of textual and

interpersonal interaction for reader consideration (Wu & Allison, 2003 cited in Fung &

Mei, 2015).

 Cover Letter. A written document that is typically submitted with a job application. It

outlines the credentials and interests of the applicants in the open position. Well-written

cover letters complement the resume by explaining why the candidate is the ideal

person for the job.

 Editorial. A section in a newspaper or magazine where writers share their opinion about

ongoing issues that may or may not reflect the opinion of the entire publishing house. If
 the case is the latter, a disclaimer is shared. This is one of the few articles in the

newspaper that does not fall into the expository writing category.

4-Expository Writing
Expository writing is written in a style that explains a concept or shares information with
the audience as well as provides instructions and insights regarding a particular subject.
It is one of the most common types of writing and is typically present in other writing
styles as well. Because it lays information to readers, it is sometimes referred to as
information writing.

Unlike persuasive writing, expository style is devoid of the authors’ opinions. If writing
comprises facts and provides information about a subject but is written in a way that
persuades the readers, it does not fall into the expository writing category.

Non-editorial articles in newspapers and magazines, manuals, textbooks, instructional

guides, and nonfiction books are the most common examples of expository writing.
Others include how-to books, cookbooks, recipes, self-help books, scientific research,
educational resources, business books, technical write-ups, medical journals, research,
and others.

Examples:

 How-to Articles. This is a nonfiction article that provides the audience with a series of

steps to accomplish something. This is a popular type of article in online media, thanks

to the rise of the internet, leading to people wanting to share instructions on doing

something for a wider audience.

 News Articles. Typically published in papers or online news sites, a news article is a

recount of a true event that occurred. It typically answers Who? What? When? Where?

and Why? questions. Some blogs and papers also account for news articles.

 Scientific Research. These are types of research that should be planned systematically

before its actual performance. The main purpose of scientific research is to contribute

towards the development of science through systematic collection, analysis, and

evaluation of data.