|
|
|
|
Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
|
| |||||||||||
|
Basic
Text Styles
|
|
Any job is easier to do when you know two things before
you begin: what it is you want to create, and the tools you have in your toolkit to help you do it. Writers have a toolkit, too. It contains five basic text style tools you can use to build a framework for stories and articles: description, narrative, exposition, instruction, and persuasion. Though most writing contains elements of more than one style, one is usually dominant. Which of the styles you select as your main approach will depend on your intention--the reason you are writing and the effect you want your words to have on your reader. "Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism, what will be grasped at once. Cyril Connolly in "Enemies of Promise" (1938) Description and narrative fall into Connolly's "read twice" category, instruction and argumentation into "grasped at once," with exposition forming a bridge between the two. Let's take a quick tour, so you can get to know each style. Description Descriptive text presents the physical and non-physical characteristics of living things, objects, and processes, real or imaginary. You'll use this text style often in your poetry and prose (fiction) writing. Description is one of the tools you'll use to write things that people will want to read twice, as Connolly put it. Description is the art of using information about what you can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell to help your reader EXPERIENCE your words. The aim of description is to reach out and touch your reader's senses and emotions; to create a relationship between your reader and your writing. Narrative The aim of narrative is to create a structure and order that guide your reader through your text. Narrative answers the "and then...?" question. A narrative text tells a story by presenting actions and events in a logical time order. Most fictional texts are narrative. |
Narrative is not as flowery or detailed as description. It
presents a more distanced and factual view of events. In
narrative, you observe rather than experience the story
events.
Exposition
Exposition is the style of writing we read in newspapers
and
articles. The aim of exposition is to explain connections,
show how something works, or how something should be done.
Exposition explains complex issues, reports on topics, and
offers the reader hands-on information from an impartial,
authoritative standpoint.
Use exposition to analyze and explain complex issues in a
precise and objective way. For example, "The
Administrative
Structure of the European Union.," or "Conflict
in Cashmere:
The Historical Background."
These days exposition is primarily a non-fiction style. It
has been used in fiction in the past to fill readers in on
background before a story begins in earnest, but it goes
in
and out of fiction fashion. At the moment it's pretty much
out of favor, but don't let that put you off using small
doses if it's best for what you want to do.
Instruction
The aim of instruction is to inform, educate, and
influence
your reader to act. An instructive text educates readers
or
influence their actions by advising about a topic. This
text
style usually includes commands and instructions.
Instructive texts can be purely descriptive and objective
(How To mend a Punctured Bicycle Tire) or didactic, i.e.,
carry a subjective moral message (How Bring the Biblical
Commandments to Life.)
Persuasion
The aim of persuasion (argumentation) is to persuade
readers
to adopt a specific view and act accordingly. Persuasion
is
a non-fiction style that deals with ideas and controversy.
The writer presents a clear opinion and personal views on
a
topic then provides facts and reasons (arguments) to
support
her stance.
You might want a reader to act by purchasing a product, by
signing a petition, by making a donation to charity, or by
voting for your candidate in an election.
Tour over! Now you know which tool is best for which task,
and that means you'll be able to make the most effective
style choices when you write.
© 2002 Susan J. Letham
Susan J. Letham is a British writer, creative writing
tutor,
and owner of http://www.Inspired2Write.com
. Sign up for
classes and competent 1-on-1 coaching. Pick up your
no-cost
subscription to the monthly Inspired2Write Newsletter at:
mailto:Inspired2Write_Newsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
|
Home
| Contact
| Order
| Site
Map |Subscribe
Copyright 200 |
