What will you feel, when you see a person wearing a Bermuda in a formal suit wedding? Weird, right? But, why? Have not you seen a person wearing Bermudas? Of course, you might have seen a lot of people in Bermudas, then why it feels strange to see such a person in a formal wedding? The reason is quite simple, because it did not go with the style of the wedding.

If it was a beach wedding, then it might be possible that it does not look so strange, because it does not demand donning a Man in Black look. Same goes with writing, any writing will only be effective, when it is done in the appropriate style. If the style in which it is written is not correct, then it loses its essence and importance.

While reading a newspaper, you expect every news to be written in straight business way, no nonsense at all, and amid of all the news you find a news which is written in a story type manner with all the description and narrations, then you will not give importance to it. In fact, even if it is the most important news of the newspaper, then also it will not be successful in getting your attention. It is just because, the style of the news is not the one in which a news should be written.

This simple example, tells us, how much it is important to choose a correct writing style and how a writing style has a direct impact on determining the significance of the writing. Therefore, if you want to be a writer or even if you just want to write a piece as an assignment, then also you should be aware of different writing styles. As the knowledge of proper writing style can do wonders to your writing. All the writing styles are very different from each other, however, they all have their equal importance, so we cannot give preference to one writing style over another. A writer should have complete awareness about each style of writing, then only he can produce a quality and effective content. There are commonly four types of writings expository, persuasive, descriptive and narrative.

Expository writing

Expository writing is the style of writing, which we commonly find in most of the academic writing as it includes almost all types of essays. In expository writing a person defines a theory with the help of all facts and figures. This type of writing is basically focused on a subject and that is the reason such writing needs to be justified by proper fact and findings and personal opinion and suggestions are not included. Expository writing can also be called as text book writing as mostly this style is adopted in text books, pieces of writing are in an organized way and are logical. Expository writing comes under formal writing and as it is uncomplicated and clear-cut, therefore, the everyday language cannot be used in expository writing. Readers read such writing, because they want to have detailed knowledge on a particular subject and they are pretty stern about understanding the issue.

Example of Expository writing

“The term energy refers an abstract physical quantity that is not easily perceived by humans. It can exist in many forms simultaneously and only acquires meaning through calculation. A system possesses energy if it has the ability to do work. The energy of motion is called kinetic energy“

Example of expository writing is taken from a physics book, “The Physics Hyper textbook” Chapter 1: Kinematics, Topic: Motion (link).

You can clearly see that in this paragraph the writer’s writing style is very straightforward and without beating round the bushes he directly explains what energy is. On the other hand, while reading this paragraph you can feel that the purpose of this writing is to educate people.

Persuasive writing

Persuasive writing is not entirely based on the findings, as the name suggests in this type of writing, a paper writer tries to change the reader’s opinion about something or to make them agree with a certain point. When a writer’s write a persuasive article, he time and again presents his views and opinions to the readers. Because he wants to compel readers to form a concurrence with his point of view. Thus such writing should be simple and clear, but compelling sentences can be used, which helps a writer to influence reader’s opinion. To the some extent some writers exaggerate in their writing, to convince readers.

Example of Persuasive writing

“The death penalty is a good deterrent for criminals and is fair because the Bible says an eye for an eye. We should keep the death penalty on the books.“

Example of persuasive writing is taken from Persuasive writing examples topic: Persuading readers with your writing (link)

In this line the writer is supporting the death penalty and also trying to persuade readers to agree with his view, by presenting a fact that even in the Bible it is written eye for an eye, so we should not eliminate the death penalty clause.

Descriptive writing

When you write a scene with defining all its minute details, such type of writing is known as descriptive writing. In descriptive writing, a writer is trying to create a complete scenario for the readers, by utilizing his writing skills. Such type of writing is meant to for the entertainment purpose not to educate the reader. You will find a lot of use of adjectives and adverbs, because writer paints a complete picture in the readers mind merely by his words.

Example of Descriptive writing

“It was a cold grey day in late November. The weather had changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a granite sky and a mizzling rain with it, and although it was now only a little after two o’clock in the afternoon the pallor of a winter evening seemed to have closed upon the hills, cloaking them in mist.“

Example of descriptive writing is taken from “Jamaica Inn” written by Daphne Du Maurier (link)

The writer has beautifully described the whole scene. He has given importance to small details, so that readers could easily create the scene in their minds. And we can also see that to give a perfect description, the writer has used a number of adjectives.

Narrative writing

Narrative writing is also somewhat similar to descriptive writing, as both are written with a purpose to entertain the readers. However, the main difference is in narrative writing writer is telling a story to the readers. Such type of writing is very entertaining, as from the very beginning, we are fond of listening to stories, but as the time precedes our story preference shifts from fairy tales to novels. Expository writing is a strict NO in narrative writing, we do not want our readers to sleep after reading one or two pages. This type of writing contains descriptive language, which helps readers to envision the scenes and characters of the story. It also helps writer to form a connection between the characters and readers. But it is not a hard and fast rule that narrative writing will have descriptive language, as the style of the writing narrative is also somewhat dependent on the type of the story. Hence, the type and genre play an important role in influencing the narrative writing.

Example of Narrative writing

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.“

Example of narrative writing is taken from the book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone” written by J.K. Rowling. (link)

The above paragraph is an example of narrative writing, when you will read this paragraph you will realize that the writer along with narrating the story, has given a small descriptions about the characters. So the readers could get the idea of the characters and what their physical appearances are like. The description is not ruining the story, however, it is supporting the reader to picture the characters in their minds.

Hopefully, this little explanation about the different writing styles helped you in understanding the diverse styles of writing and how they are different from one another. And now when you will write any piece of writing next time, you will be easily able to determine what style will give your writing prominence and which style will be productive in achieving the goal of your writing.

Oldest, but the most beneficial secrets behind the successful writing

Apart from adapting the correct writing style, there are some other factors also, which increase the effectiveness of the writing. And we are unfolding some of the secrets of the effective writing below:

Keep your readers in mind

Before writing anything, be very clear that for whom you are writing. When you will know your reader, then it will be easy to produce a write up according to their liking. Means when you are writing for kids, then you should opt for simple and easily understandable language. So, that they enjoy reading your writing and they do not have to constantly seek for their elders help in understanding the meaning of the sentences.

What is the purpose behind your writing

Anything without a purpose is useless, so when you are writing anything, determine a purpose of your writing, whether you are writing for the entertainment of the readers or you are trying to convey any message to them. And when you are sure about the purpose of your writing, then you should stick to that idea and do not go far away from it. As if you will leave the idea behind, then you will not be effective in delivering your thought to the reader.

Use a reader friendly language

Language is very important in writing. It is not necessary to write complex words to show your reader that you are a competent writer, the content of your writing will be enough in doing it. Use the language which is appropriate for your writing and do not use words which readers find difficult to understand. The simple language will be more effective than the complex language, as readers will easily understand your write-up and your purpose of writing it.

Error-free writing

Anything, no matter how much beautiful it is, will not get the appreciation when it will have, even a single, flaw in it. Specially, in writing, it is very important that it should not have any kind of error in it, as it will lose its efficiency. Therefore, a successful writing is the one, which do not have any kind of flaw in it, for instance, grammatical errors, typography error or punctuation errors etc. As having such defects will not be in favor of your writing. So, after writing anything, check it very thoroughly and make sure it is perfect and do not carry any errors.

Try to be yourself

It is good to have an inspiration, but do not pretend to be someone else. Because, if you will copy someone, then your writing will lose its originality and freshness. The thing which will, surely, help you in winning reader’s appraisal is your uniqueness. Do not lose your essence, write as you like and you want to write. Do not follow other people’s style, create your own and unique style.