How to Determine Your Writing Style

Imaginative Writers vs. Pragmatic Writers

There are two kinds of writers in the world: Imaginative Writers and Pragmatic Writers. Imaginative Writers are people who dream in fiction. They generally love novels and fantasy. They have a gift for drama.

The second kind of writer is the Pragmatic Writer. The Pragmatic Writer typically reads non-fiction, interviews, and biographies. The Pragmatic Writer likes learning about the real world.

What is Your Writing Style?

The good news is that it's very simple to find out what kind of writer you are. The bad news is that you don't get to choose. The way to find out what kind of writer you are is to ask yourself, "What do I like to read?" Or better yet, "What can I not put down?"

Whatever it is that you can't stop reading -- or thinking about -- is the thing you will likely be good at writing. Whatever else you try to write will probably be mediocre at best. Who but someone that loved Westerns ever wrote a good Western novel?

I first got paid for writing about 7 years ago. The first thing I got published was a short essay. That little bit of success made me decide to attempt a bigger, more serious project. I never stopped to consider that the thing I had written -- effortlessly and with joy -- was the type of thing I myself enjoyed reading. So I wasted a few years writing short stories and two novels (now sitting in the bottom of a cardboard box). The process was painful and depressing because I was trying to write the wrong thing for me.

Meanwhile, I kept getting little essays published, as well as short articles on the Web. I didn't think of this as serious writing, yet I did it effortlessly, enjoyed the work, and received good feedback from others. Luckily, I finally realized that this was what I was meant to write in the first place. I had made the mistake of thinking that for something to be good, it must be painful to create. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Jack Woodford once said, "A genius is a genius because he gets it right the first time."

Publishing Short Articles and Essays

It's easy to get articles and essays published. These can include profiles, reviews, interviews, and how-to pieces. Pragmatic Writers tend to write short, since they are mainly interested in facts rather than filler. This can be an advantage. Today's readers prefer short pieces for Web-based content. If a Pragmatic Writer wants to publish a whole book, he can simply collect a bunch of essays into a single volume.

To uncover your own writing style, it's important not only to notice what you like to read, but also the form and style. Pay attention to your "guilty pleasures" that you can enjoy effortlessly. Some non-fiction writers, for example, like to do tons of research. Personally, I enjoy writers who non-formally collect a lot of information on a subject, due to their own interest, and then write the actual piece off the top of their heads. That is my writing style too -- find yours and some kind of success will follow.