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The 5 Principle Writing Styles

Writing is a critical skill that is not only essential for your education but for life in general. As this skill develops you will come to be aware of the five principle writing styles.

These writing styles make all the difference.

5 Writing Styles

Analytical writing

Being analytical is a good skill for both education and life in general. It requires the ability to look at a theme, character, argument, or statement and come to the decision on whether it has any merit or not. To be able to do this, a dissection of the subject at hand needs to be performed. Then an argument offered regarding its merit and meaning. 

It is important to note that analytical writing is not solely description or explanation. It requires the reading and comprehension of a piece of text, an explanation of what is happening, and then analyzing a particular angle of it.

Argumentative writing

This type of writing is often confused with persuasive writing but is in fact very different. The biggest difference between the two types is that whilst persuasive is more heartfelt and based on emotion, argumentative writing makes use of statistics, science, and quotes from experts. It also makes use of evidence generated by the author from any questionnaires or surveys that they have conducted. 

Expository writing

As the title implies, this type of writing is based on exposition, or more accurately, the explanation and description of a particular idea. The types of topics covered in this form of writing run across the entire gambit, from nature to inventions, politics to emotions, hobbies to family and so much more. 

Narrative writing

Narrative writing is defined as writing that is characterized by having an antagonist / main character in a particular setting where they engage with a series of events or problems in a significant way. This type of writing covers a lot of writing instructions, such as tone, author’s purpose, structure, voice. Writing in this way teaches word choice, organization, and sentence structure.

In order to write a good story there needs to be a theme or idea to convey, a leading character that has certain personality traits, a number of side characters, a setting for the story to take place in, a style or structure in which the story will be told, specific literary elements, and vocabulary words. 

Persuasive writing

This is a form of writing that is nonfiction. It encourages the use of carefully chosen words in order to portray an idea, requires the development of an argument, and finishes off with a summary that is highly cohesive. The two fundamental components are emotional appeal and logic. In order to be convincing, a sound premise must be developed. 


The skill of writing is something that requires constant harnessing in order to stay at your best. Enhance your writing skills by taking an online, college English course with Straighterline. Doing so will not only improve your education, but will enable you to write more effectively on a day to day basis in all aspects of your life.

These writing styles make all the difference.