Every type of writing or genre has a certain style. Here are brief descriptions of some common writing genres and their styles:
News articles. These are written in an objective, presentational style by journalists. The writer tries to be invisible. As they say, this is a “just the facts” type of writing.
Column. This form of journalism expresses an opinion and is usually written in a personal style that highlights the wit of the writer. In a newspaper, you should be able to read the facts in news articles, then read someone’s opinions of the facts in columns.
Editorials. Columns are sometimes called editorials, but an editorial is also a specific type of opinion piece that’s usually written by the editor and represents the opinion of the entire paper. This kind of editorial usually doesn’t list an author, since it is meant to represent the paper as a whole (and may be the work of a few editors). An editorial has a less personal voice than a column.
Magazine articles. There is a wide range of magazine articles, but generally they are examples of in-depth reporting that dig deeply into a topic or a person’s life. Magazine writers have more leeway for creativity (such as humor and extended description) than writers of news articles.
Essay writing. This category overlaps quite a bit with magazine writing. However, essays are often more personal than magazine articles. Often, essays fall in the category of creative nonfiction, a type of writing that uses the literary devices of fiction to write about true events.
Scholarly journal articles. These are scientific articles that present and discuss research. Scholarly articles are written in all the sciences, from the hard (physical) sciences to the soft (social) sciences. This type of writing is written in an extremely objective, detached style with a meticulous eye for detail.
Research papers for school. These mimic scholarly journal articles but are quite different. The main difference is that the student almost never does any original research except for reading articles, so a research paper is almost always the equivalent of a literature review. Research papers are assigned to help students improve as writers and thinkers. They are usually written with a strong thesis statement: a sentence that captures the argument of the paper.
Advertising copy. This can range from a single slogan (“I’m lovin’ it!”) to the entire script of a commercial. One of the best examples of a clever advertising campaign is Dos Equis’ “The Most Interesting Man in the World” character, perhaps the most roguish, charming beer pitchman in history. Ad copy is often humorous, and it should catch people’s attention. This is writing with a simple purpose: get people to buy your product. A secondary goal would be to help people remember your product and have good associations with it. That process is known as branding.
Creative writing. This is a broad category that could include dramatic writing, humor writing, and advertising copy, but it most commonly refers to poetry and fiction. The simplest definitions of poetry and fiction might be that poetry expresses emotions and fiction tells stories, but those are extremely simplistic definitions that only apply in a very broad sense. Poetry and fiction are both huge categories full of variety, and you should seek out a book on either to learn more.
PRACTICAL POINT
Good style is engaging, clear, and direct. Bad style is dull, muddled, and unclear.
Theatrical writing. This includes writing for the stage or video, such as playwriting and screenwriting. Theatrical (also called dramatic) writing is just as creative as poetry and fiction, but there’s a big difference: playwrights and screen writers write for actors to perform their words. Theatrical writing also includes writing for television and internet videos, as well as dramatic forms such as the one-act play, 10-minute play, and sketch, a comedic form made famous by Saturday Night Live.
Comedy writing. Like ad copy, comedy writing has a simple purpose: make people laugh (and often, think). Comedy writing includes scripts for TV and movies, jokes for standup comedians and the internet, and humor pieces, which are comedic essays. One of the best sources of humor pieces is The New Yorker’s Shouts & Murmurs section.
Business writing. This includes a variety of professional writing, including business reports, memos, PowerPoint presentations, letters, and even job materials such as a résumé. Business writing is brief and to the point: it should communicate as simply and directly as possible (though business writing is often full of jargon, which you’ll learn more about in Chapter 12).
Grant writing. This is a very specific type of writing aimed at securing funding from agencies and organizations that give grants (money) to businesses and individuals. Grant-writing is dry, technical, and precise (and also lucrative if you know how to do it well).
Blog post. Blogging is one of the most difficult types of writing to sum up; the range of blog styles will make you dizzy. A blog could be a series of pictures of your cat, a disconnected bunch of rants on politics, a group of posts about your vacation to Greece, or a forum for serious discussions of feminism—or any other topic. The credentials of bloggers vary wildly. Any person in the world can blog, from your weird neighbor to a linguistics professor. To judge the value of a blog, consider the quality of the writing, the purpose of the blog, and the credentials of the blogger. For your own blog, think about whether you’d like your blog to be a fun hobby or a potential asset to your career. It could be either.
Tweet. A message for the popular social network and microblogging service Twitter, the key feature of a tweet is that it must be 140 characters or fewer. Despite the seeming triviality of the form, many writers—of humor and more serious matters—have used tweeting to build an audience that has led to paying work, such as writing books or TV shows. How you tweet is entirely up to you. Reposting someone else’s tweet—which is like quoting it—is retweeting.
Text message. This is probably the most informal type of writing. However, like anything else, some people take texting more seriously than others. The purpose of many texts is to have a conversation or to pass on information such as “I’m running late” or “My gate at the airport changed.”
You should also know that writing genres are not uniform types of writing: everyone writing in a genre doesn’t write the same way. If you want to learn more about the style of one of these types of writing, you should pick up a book geared toward that type of writing.
When it comes to writing, there is variation within variation within variation. Each publication has its own style, but each writer also has a style. When writing in a specific genre, you should find a balance between your own style and that of the genre.
The following section is more general: it describes elements of good style that will usually help you communicate effectively and economically in words.