Research Methodology and Communication Skills

(MSFS 401)
Unit IV: Writing Skills
 Introduction
• A thought that seems really simple in your mind can be difficult
to replicate into written words.

• Moreover, to convey your thoughts with precision to your

readers, you need to be skilled at penning them down.

• Writing is not similar to a free-size piece of clothing.

• Different writing styles serve different purposes. They have

specified uses and coincide well with a particular thought.
• Choosing wisely what type of academic writing will best suit the
idea can help the author gain more credibility and reliability.

Understanding Types of Writing Styles

• To choose correctly what writing style goes best with your
thoughts or ideas, it is important to know different styles of
writing, observe the already written examples and look at
their features.

• These different types of writing styles have their own tone

and temperament and pair well with a related thought or idea.
 Different writing style
• Following are different writing style that are in use-
1. Narrative Writing
2. Descriptive Writing
3. Expository Writing
4. Persuasive Writing
5. Creative Writing
6. Objective Writing
7. Subjective Writing
8. Review Writing
9. Poetic Writing
10. Technical Writing
 Narrative Writing

• Best for fiction and creative writing.

• Narrative writing is storytelling in written form.
• It captures a journey, or a part of it, from the start to the very
end.
• That is to say that it has a beginning, interval, and ending.

• It is not necessarily fictional, as it can be a description of a real-

life incident from the life of the author or any other individual or
thing that the author has written about.
• There are vivid descriptions of situations in narrative writing.
• The writer develops a character and tells the story from their
point of view.
• Hence, narrative writing is written from a first-person
perspective. One character might then interact with other
secondary characters and have dialogues.
▪ Examples: Short stories, novels, presentations, speeches,
creative essays, memoirs, anecdotes, etc.
❑ Features: Written in first person, requires great imagination
by the writer.
 Descriptive Writing
• Descriptive writing is one of those styles of writing where the
author writes about every aspect of the event, person, or place
they are describing in detail.
• This is to make the reader feel as if they are actually present
there.
• It paints a picture with words in the reader’s mind.
• Descriptive writing pieces are written in the first person and
their tone is emotional and personal.
• It involves writing descriptions using all five senses.
• Descriptive writing is filled with adverbs and adjectives for an
enhanced quality of reading experience.
• Descriptions of such kind can upgrade one’s writing style to a
higher level that goes deeper into the minds of the readers.
▪ Examples: Poetry, fictional stories, journals, copywriting,
narrative non-fiction, etc.
❑ Features: Detail-oriented writing presents a visual through
words, personal tone.
 Expository Writing
• Best for explaining or informing about a particular subject or topic
area.
• Expository writing aims to explain or educate its readers about a
particular topic.
• So the goal is to teach the reader about something rather than
entertaining them unlike Narrative or Descriptive writing style.
• This style of writing is written to answer questions the interested
reader might have about the subject that is being talked about in the
text.
• Questions like who, what, when, where, why, how are answered in
expository pieces of academic writing.
• This is an objective style of writing where no personal opinions
of the author are displayed.
• It is not supposed to have an agenda, but just state facts to
inform the reader.
• By use of this writing, one attracts the reader towards
something undeniable and concretely proven.

• Examples: Textbooks, manuals, technical or scientific writing,

editorial writing, training materials etc.
 Persuasive Writing
• Best for convincing people about a thought or idea.

• For this writing style, the writer is trying to convince the reader
of the validity of a certain position or argument.

• Persuasive writing includes the writers’ opinions, and provides

justifications and evidence to support their claims.
• Statements or arguments without proper reasoning would not
be successful in convincing anyone. Hence, proper statistical,
anecdotal, testimonial or textual evidence needs to back up
every statement of the author.
• This style of writing is subjective in nature.

• The author must have an all-encompassing knowledge of the

other side of the argument they are writing about.

• This is so they can accordingly include possible counter-

arguments to enhance the quality of the written piece.

• Examples: Editorials, opinion pieces in newspapers, essays,

cover letters, letters of recommendation, sales writing, reviews,
advertising, etc.
 Creative Writing
• Best for experimenting with your writing and doing some out-of-
the-box thinking.

• Creative writing is a style of writing where the author is

expected to break free from the shackles of already existing
writing structures.
• It does not ask the author to follow an already given format or
use such-and-such writing devices.

• The author is free to choose how they want to convey their

thought or idea to the reader.
• Any form of writing that requires imagination on the part of the
author can be categorized under creative writing.
• Since this does not require the author to follow a set structure,
the creative writing style is a skill that can be mastered with
practice and investing time in it.
• In the present times, creative writing is an asset in the
professional world and can give an upper hand to an individual
applying in a relevant field.
• Examples: Biographies, screenwriting, script-writing, flash fiction,
creative non-fiction, etc.
 Objective Writing
• Best for formal writing, presenting a neutral point of view towards
a thought or idea.

• Objective writing is a style of writing where the writing is

supported by proven facts and pieces of evidence.

• The information included must be correct; scientifically and

statistically.

• The author must remain unbiased so that the readers can form
their own opinions.
• The author is expected not to intensify things as they are
being described and keep them straight.

• Objective writing style, due to the above-mentioned

requirement, is safe to be called fair and accurate.

• It is devoid of bias and exaggeration, too.

• Examples: Texts written for educational purposes, assertive

texts, etc.