In English, there are generally four main styles of writing. Which writing style you use will depend on who you’re writing for and the purpose of your piece. Therefore, knowing all four different writing styles and how to use them is important when writing essays in English.

Before we go any further, some of you might be thinking, is writing style the same as genres? Let us clear that up for you by answering no. Writing style and genres are two different things. 

Genres refer to the category of literature that a piece of work might belong to based on the content, tone or even length. On the other hand, writing style can be said to refer to the way an author communicates the story in order to fulfil a purpose. The same writing style can be used for different genres while different writing styles can be used for the same genre. 

So what are the four different styles of writing? They are:

• Expository writing

• Descriptive writing

• Persuasive writing

• Narrative writing

In this article, we will introduce to you all four different styles of writing with some examples so make sure you keep reading on!

2) Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing aims to describe things in detail to help readers imagine or visualise a person, place, event and so on. Besides describing what a character sees, the author might include details about the sounds, tastes, smells or emotions experienced by the character. 

Descriptive writing can also be quite poetic compared to the other different writing styles, as the author have more freedom to describe things creatively. Many adjectives are also often used in descriptive writing to help readers form a mental image of a scene, place or person. For example, here’s an excerpt from ‘Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone’.

“He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.”

Can you guess which character is described in the text above? If you guessed Professor Dumbledore, then you’re right! Notice how the author, J.K Rowling used multiple descriptions to help us imagine what Dumbledore looked like. This also makes it more interesting to read instead of just calling him a thin and odd-looking old man.

Descriptive writing is best used when writing fiction, poetry, journals and diary entries as it helps paint a vivid scene in the mind of readers. 

3) Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing, as the name suggests aims to persuade and convince the reader about something. It contains the author’s opinions so it is different from the expository style of writing. 

In order to convince readers to agree with the author’s point of view, persuasive writing must contain logical reasons and justifications. Facts and figures can also be used to support the argument or statements made. 

Examples of persuasive writing include:

• Opinion and editorial pieces

• Advertisements

• Reviews (books, movies, restaurants, etc.)

• Recommendation or cover letters

• Complaints 

Here’s a sample of a persuasive text from an essay where the author is trying to convince the reader about the benefits of social media.

“I believe that social media is a good way for us to stay in touch with people, especially those who live far away. For example, the ‘Stories’ feature on Instagram is an easy way to know what friends and family are up to. This allows people to share their lives in a way that wasn’t possible before these apps were invented.”

If you’re trying to influence readers about something, you will need to learn how to write good persuasive essays. To learn more information about persuasive essays, click here.

4) Narrative Writing

To narrate is to give a spoken or written account of something whether real or fictional. Hence, the purpose of narrative writing is to tell a story about what happened somewhere and what happened to someone or something.

It is distinct from the different writing styles as characters and dialogues are usually used in narrative writing to tell the story. The narration can be from the point of view of one of the characters, from several points of view or from the author’s point of view. Narratives can be told chronologically or non-chronologically and often involves some sort of plot. 

Narrative writing is most commonly used in: 

• Novels

• Short Stories

• Autobiographies or biographies

• Poetry

• Blog articles or diary entries