Three Types of Writing - The Basics of Content Writing, Creative Writing and Copywriting

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Human mind is a web wreathed with thoughts and opinions upon every littlest of things. It’s rather impossible to shut down your mind in order to resist thinking about anything. The imaginations and thought process goes beyond and on and it becomes very difficult at times to speak it out, as people with different perspectives are always there to contradict. 

Writing is an art which helps an individual convey thoughts through the most explicit tool, words. Nobody needs to always stand up and face their thoughts publicly, but one can always use his/her words through writing to let people acknowledge the depth of it.

Now, there is not only one way to convey but different ways to do it for varying necessities. Some people are in the habit of writing their journal, some express through poems and poetry or just scribble down anything that comes to your mind. 

As to talk professionally, there are these three prominent kinds of writing to evaluate your needs: Content Writing, Creative Writing and Copywriting. It is very important for a writer to identify the content and the type it falls into for a better approach and targeting the right audience for it.

1. Content Writing

The form of writing which includes informatory content pieces is called Content Writing. This is mainly chosen for the content which would provide detailed information about certain topics. For example, ‘What are the different types of Pesticides?’ or, ‘Different Seasons in India’. Content Writing focuses wholly upon the information and that it should be provided with in-depth research to the readers. 

Source: Writing Geeks

Different Forms

Content writing encircles many different forms of text-based content. Each type serves a different purpose for the readers. The forms are: articles, information blogs, Email newsletters, press releases, e-books, website content.

Basic Necessity

A content writer should never pick up any random subjects, but rather the one the audience is in dire need to search for. A subject that’s both trending as well as time sustaining works best for it. A content which could sustain its relevance and validity over the years is considered to be competent and significant. 

It is important to differentiate between the different forms of content writing while working on it. An article, a newsletter, or a blog have different word ranges and content types which should be kept in mind. Not everything should look the same.

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It is also very important for the content to be original, with the least expectancy of plagiarism in it. A content writer should provide its audience the uniqueness which they won’t find on any other alternative website.

Want to master the art of content writing? Take a glimpse at this article: The 5 Skills You Need to Become a Successful Content Writer

2. Creative Writing

Wikipedia says- “Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics.”

But by all means, let’s be more clear. The writer in me says- the form of writing which consists of the aura of your first-hand experiences and emotions wreathed with a definite amount of words in a web of perfectly aligned content pieces at last. 

Creative writing isn’t about information but about the things related to literary emotions and crafty pieces. The word ‘creative’ is self explanatory for being crafty and perspective with your emotions to sustain the form of content.

Source: Essays Counseling

Different Forms

Creative writing also encircles different forms of text-based content. Each type conveys different expressions of the writer to his/her audience. The forms are: poems, poetries, journal writing, short stories, novels, biographies, autobiographies, ebooks.

Basic Requirement 

As creative writing is considered to be an ‘original composition’, hence it is very much needed from the writer to be open and honest with the story. He/she shouldn’t cover or overlap any kind of ideas over its original texture. A creative writer is a ‘people’s writer’ and so, the importance should be justified properly.

A creative writer is always needed to keep a record of the experiences he/she thinks could help people further on. The need of sharing their experiences with the interested group of people is the prime motive. One should not only share their own experience, but also encourage others through their writing to be open as well.

Unlike content writing and copywriting, creative writing doesn’t target any specific readers. Creative writing is open to all kinds of people. It is more like a break from their realistic practical lives and diving into the ocean of varying emotions that they might also be holding. Just like the freestyle form in dance, it is the freestyle of writing. 

Source: Study

To get a bit more knowledge about the usage of creative writing in different fields since a very long time in history, read this article: Creative Writing   

3. Copywriting

Copywriting is the process of writing persuasive promotional materials that motivate people to take some form of action, like to make a purchase, clicking on a link, donations, or scheduling a consultation. It is basically used for marketing purposes.

The materials could possibly involve written promotions going out in print or online. It could also include additional materials that might be spoken, like in scripted videos and commercials. The text added in these materials are called ‘copy’ and hence, the term is coined as ‘copywriting’.

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Copywriting has become the most significant form of writing over the span of years. We may not realize it that much, but copywriting can be found everywhere. If you don’t believe me, just check out your own mail inbox and see for yourself. 

Be it any organisation; MNC or NGO or Governmental, it sends out ad campaigns (pamphlets, paper posters) or their commercials go online (digital posters, videos). Marketing is everywhere and so is copywriting having its way along with it. 

Copywriting is more like a skill than a different form of writing, as any writer could be a copywriter, given he/she could write things that would persuade their targeted customers.

Skills Needed

i. Convincing Ability- A copywriter should write such a content that would convince the audience to fall in for their demand.

ii. A Wider Range in Vocabulary- It’s very helpful for a copywriter to have a grip on a wider range of vocabulary and use exclusive words everytime and not the simple boring ones always.

iii. Listening Power- Not only one should convey all the time, but listening to their clients is also important.

iv. Problem Solving- The person who will spend, would also want to gain the most out of it and so, they will always have doubts about it. One should be able to solve any least and most of the queries of their clients, and it's their duty to solve their problem in a satisfying manner.

If you’re interested in knowing more about this widespread form of writing, I think this article will help for sure- What Does a Copywriter Do? 

A Quick Fact: You will never know what kind of a writer you are for real, if you haven’t tried your luck in all of them.

The Bottom Line

This article was more for you to help in identifying the differences between the things you write at varying platforms. Get to know about your original form, acknowledge it, and work more towards enhancing its texture. 

Now, after all the knowledge you gathered from this, you might be able to answer this little question for me- Which form of writing was used in this article? I hope you know now. Happy writing!

Read more: How To Retain What You Read

Written By - Pavas Shrigyan