Types of writing- Complete writing guide for beginners

Becoming a better writer requires constant practice and an exploration of other authors’ work. Learn key tips and methods that can elevate your writing to its full potential.

6 Types of writing

There are many different types of writing available to you as a new writer. Below is a small sampling of some genres of writing you might want to explore:

1. Essays: Essays are short non-fiction pieces recounting personal experiences or offering analysis and opinion on an issue or story. Essays can be published in many different places and types of publications and are a great starting point for new writers.

2. Blogs: Blogs feature posts that can be very similar to essays, although the blog format generally allows bloggers to be less formal and briefer than traditional essayists. There are many different formats and publishing sources for blogs including Tumblr and WordPress.

3. Poetry: Poetry is a great medium for emotionally driven writers who like exploring a form with many avenues to play with form and structure. Many non-fiction writers and traditional fiction writers like writing poetry to supplement their other work as it allows them a different creative outlet than their other writing.

4. Short stories: A short story or novella gives new fiction writers a good format to use as a starting point. Short stories have a lower word count than traditional novels and are a great place to start learning the principles of fiction writing.

5. Novels: Novels are a great place to cut your teeth as a fiction writer once you feel you’ve got the basics down. Novels give you the space and length to dig into complex characters or plot out complex storylines. Novels can be shopped around to lit agents for representation and can also be sold through self-publishing.

6. Audio: Audiobooks and podcasts are a non-traditional avenue for writers to explore. Writing for an audio medium presents a different sort of challenge for writers.

3 Things to Consider When Choosing a Topic to Write About

There are many different ways of deciding what you want to write about. Your topic will depend on the form of writing you have selected or been assigned, but here are a few different ways to generate topics and premises for your writing:

1. Story: Starting with a good story or compelling main character is a good way to get into a piece regardless of whether it is fiction or nonfiction. Brainstorm several creative storylines and find the one that is most compelling to you—think about what would keep a reader engaged.

2. Personal experience: Thinking about a personal experience is an excellent way of starting a new piece of writing. As a human being, your memories provide you with great fodder for writing as you have an immediate point of view and can recall textural details that make your writing more specific. Think about particularly evocative memories—like the first time you rode a bike, maybe, or a fun date that went awry—then hash out a piece of writing based on your experience.

3. Issue: Thinking about a compelling and divisive issue in contemporary society can be a great way to come up with non-fiction pieces. Whether you are just starting in your writing career or are working full time as a professional writer, thinking about issues that you have particularly evocative memories—like the first time you rode a bike, maybe, or a fun date that went awry—then hash out a piece of writing based on your experience, thinking about issues that you have a particularly strong point of view on or opinion on can help generate very compelling persuasive pieces.