What Should I Write As An Author & Writer?

        Okay so I want to be a writer but what do I actually write? Do I stay in one writing category or can I write across multiple? Do I write what I am best in or do I write what I like to read or enjoy most?…

        Questions and more questions can continue to form, trying to decide what type of writing to do. What should I write?: is a question that I had to ask myself over and over again when I got serious. Honestly, I almost got lost in this abyss of questions coming from on in addition to that one question.

As rudimentary, elementary, or even not important as this question may seem, I think that it was and is a crucial question for me to answer to grow and become (or start to become) skillful in the craft of writing. Especially since I have written poems, short stories, and essays, and have done other various types of writing and writing exercises and enjoyed them all.

While it is beneficial to practice writing in different styles, and techniques, to advance in my career I deem it important to especially practice and work on (specifically) the type of writing that is going to be the writing of my career. And in practicing this I can find my writing style, technique, voice, and groove when writing. 

        Research was one of the first things I did and I found that there were so many options: There are many different types of writing, writers, writing purposes, and writing styles. And I had to figure out which one of these I am or by which of these ways/categories do I want to write.

Types of Writing and their Types of Writing

1. Literary Writing: Prose, Prose Poetry, Narrative, Fiction, Novel, Essay, Play, Article, Memoir, Auto Biography, Quotation, History, Non-fiction, Creative Non-Fiction

Literary Works include Creative Writing Works. Not To be mixed up with Literature/English Lit. Literature is a different study.

1.5. Creative Writing: Song Writing, Plays, Movie Scripts, Television Scripts, Fiction, Memoirs, Personal Essays, Poetry

2. Academic Writing: Essays, Research Paper or Article And Different Types of these are: Descriptive, Persuasive, Critical, Analytical
3. Technical Writing: Technical Reports, Policies, Procedures, Business Plans, Research Results, Instruction Manuals, Proposals, Studies, Business Plans and etc

Types Of Writing Styles

1. Expository
2. Descriptive
3. Persuasive
4. Narrative

Types of Writing Purposes

1. To Inform
2. To Entertain
3. To Narrate
4. To Persuade

Types of Writers

1. Novelist
2. Poet
3. Screen Writer
4. Translator
5. Lyricist
6. Letter Writer
7. Satirist
8. Essayist
9. Librettist
10. Scribe
11. Short Story Writers
12. Journalist
13. Playwright
14. Screenwriter
15. Report Writer
16. Biographer
17. Blogger
18. Critic
19. SpeechWriter
20. Memoirist
21. Technical Writer
22. Editor
23. Columnist
24. Historian
25. Encyclopedian
26. Lexicographer
27. Researcher/Scholar
28. Ghost Writer

You may have seen many of the same words or word types repeated and that is because some types of writing and writing styles, technique purposes and so cross genres and categories.

        So, after that heap of found information, this was my strategy to find out what type of writer I am.

        First I free wrote. I opened a blank page and without thinking began writing. Then I looked at what I was working with and at the same time I considered the type of writing I like and find exciting (reading and/or writing). Next, I went back to those lists and tried to find out in which categories I fit in (if not completely then partially). And then out loud I said these sentences

“I want to write__________” Fill in a type of writing or genre, etc, and in what form.

“I want to write because__________” Fill in a purpose either in the categories or detailed reason of your own

“I want to write to____________” Fill in the types of people you want to read your writing

And then I began freewriting again to test the waters bit. I wrote naturally and also with some effort to write in the categories and style I am in. Now seeing if I liked what I was writing I kept going and tried to do it better. When I didn’t like the material I wrote I’d change it and find my groove. Nonetheless to know and find my writing style and groove I needed and still need to write (constantly). And in doing so my voice, style, techniques, tone, flow, and so on, were and will continue to be developed.

        Now reading works from a well-established writer is great too and a practice I support doing so but I did not want to read others’ work before I knew what I was working with and what naturally came from my fingers and brain. And then after getting an idea (not a complete one, mind you) of what I was working with I read other works to learn more about what I wanted to write.

        Despite all that information and work this wasn’t the longest nor quickest process to figure out what I want to write. The writer I want to be, The writer I am.

        I want to write moving fiction books to inspire and galvanize adults and teens toward positive life choices, values, and ideals.