kinds of writing

Did you know there are actually five different types of writing?  Good writers want to use these types as guidelines to fit the purpose of their writing.  Know what type of writing you are being asked to write and gear your style to fit the purpose.  It will make your writing better and soon you'll be a master writer!

Descriptive   Like the word says, you describe.  Use your senses to describe the people and places you are writing about.  What do you see, hear, smell taste and feel.  The more detail you can add the better your descriptive writing becomes.  Create a picture for readers through description so they can step into your story and be a part of it.  This type of writing is frequently used and may be found in books as well as magazines and newspaper articles.
Compare and Contrast   This type of writing allows the writer to point out similarities and differences about topics, subjects or objects.  Compare means to identify how your topics are alike or similar.  You state what they have in common.  On the other hand, contrast means to identify what is different about your your topic.  When contrasting, you state what makes the topic, subject or object unique or one of a kind. In writing to compare and contrast, you include both the similarities and the differences into the one piece of writing so the reader can grasp the big picture.  In this type of writing, you might be asked to compare and contrast two animals you find in Africa. 


Expository   This is a fancy way of saying explain or inform.  So, this is writing that explains something.  You may be writing how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you are asked to write an Expository essay.  In Social Studies, you may be asked to inform readers of how a war began or about how pyramids ever came to be.  You are informing readers.  Like Descriptive writing, you see Expository writing in books, magazines, and newspaper articles. 

Narrative   This is the kind of writing where you get to tell a story.  Everyone loves to hear story, especially about themselves, which would be a Personal Narrative.  A story will use literary elements like characters, a setting, a plot and a theme.  From novels to screenplays to plays, they are all narratives because they tell a story.   

Persuasive   Has a friend ever tried to get you to change your mind about something?  Then, that person was trying to persuade you.  If you wrote out your conversation, that would have been Persuasive writing!  With Persuasive writing, a writer tries to change your mind or your point of view.   Using facts and opinions, the writer tries to get you to see things his/her way.  Politics overflows with writing and speeches by people trying to persuade others to their way of thinking.   Sometimes, in newspapers and  magazines, you see Persuasive writing in articles called editorials