The Purpose of Your Writing

published M M Ryan 2/22/23

I read an article recently that states there are only four forms of creative writing, and although that seemed limiting to me, when I researched the definition of each one, I found it difficult to argue. 

I couldn’t recall anything I’ve read that didn’t fit into one of these four categories: expository, descriptive, persuasive, and narrative. Each of these has a distinct aim, and require different types of writing skills.

I identified my writing in two of these forms Descriptive and Narrative. As a novelist, I describe what I see or imagine and narrate it for my audience. I also aspire to grow into play/screenwriting, which is also included in these forms.

Narrative Writing-- The purpose of narrative writing is to tell a story, whether that story is real or imaginary—fiction, short stories, novellas, poetry, biographies, screen, and stage plays are examples of narrative writing. Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, Dickens, Alice Walker, and James Baldwin are considered to be some of the best Narrative and short story writers.

Descriptive Writing- Painting pictures with words by using vivid language to help the reader visualize, in detail, a character, event, place, or all of these things at once. The author might describe the scene in terms of all five senses. It seeks to involve the readers' emotions by including sensory details. As a novelist, using the right amount of description to enhance my writing is a foremost goal. Too much detail will bog it down. It’s also used in essays and poetry. To find examples of great descriptive writing, you can look for books by Stephen King, Anne Rice and George R.R. Martin.

Expository Writing exposes or sets forth facts, and Persuasive Writing seeks to sway our opinions--think advertising and politics.

The point is the purpose of your work defines what forms you’ll want to use. Consider this while you’re writing, but if you’re unsure, don’t let that uncertainty stop you from writing. As you write, your objectives for your work will become clear and steer you in the direction to achieve your goals.