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Major Types and Various Styles of Writing

Major Types and Various Styles of Writing

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Major Types of Writing

Four Main Styles

There are four main styles of writing, including:

  1. Expository – to explain something to your reader
  2. Descriptive – to describe key points or certain images to your reader
  3. Persuasive – to convince or influence your reader
  4. Narrative – to tell a story to your reader

The style that you choose depends what you want to accomplish with your audience. Thus, before writing, it is very important that you carefully plan and organize your writing before you start the writing itself. See Planning and Organizing Your Writing

Here are more descriptions of the major styles of writing.

Other Styles of Writing

Examples of additional styles include formal vs informal, concise vs detailed, commercial vs literary, and factual vs opinioned.

Various Styles of Writing

Academic Writing

Academic writing is usually about research and theories and, thus, is written in a formal structure that is concise, orderly and specific. If it is in regard to research, it can include specific references to other writing, as well as citations to specific pages or quotes in the other writings. Academic writing also conforms to certain style guides, including the American Psychological Association style guide.

Business Writing

Business writing usually includes proposals, memorandums and email, as can also include various sales publications, such as brochures and catalogs.

Creative Writing

Creative writing is intended to express the original thoughts of the writer. Examples are poems, plays, songs and personal essays.

Scientific Writing

Scientific writing is a highly technical form of technical writing that is intended primarily for other scientists. It is very similar to academic writing and those types are sometimes used interchangeably. However, scientific writing is primarily focused on research and experimental terms, such as hypothesis,
methodology, findings, recommendations for further research. There are often numerous references and citations in scientific writing.

Technical Writing

Technical writing is usually in regard to planning, developing, providing, maintaining and fixing technical equipment. Examples include schematics, instruction manuals, help files and procedures.

For the Category of Communications (Business Writing):

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