The A-B-Cs of Success in Writing - Acknowledge the Nature of the Beast

"A" represents acknowledging the nature of the beast. Anyone whose written poetry knows it’s a different kind of animal than novels. Academic writing is different from creative writing. Knowing the difference can really make a difference. It will take time and effort, but it’ll be worth it. Make sure everything is as perfect as possible before sending it off to others.

One of the hardest things to keep in mind when writing is a focus. Keep the "poetry" or "storytelling" mindset if that's what you are writing. Keep it businesslike if you are trying to be professional. Below is a general list of different kinds of writing and their definition:

Academic Writing – This kind of writing involves works such as essays designed to argue or explain a point you are trying to make. Writing about which toothpaste is better for your teeth would be an academic form of writing.  
Focus: Be formal and intellectual when writing. Keep words like “you” and “I” out. Logical verbiage is your primary goal – objective and robot-like.

Professional Writing – Also known as technical writing, this form is exactly how it sounds – “professional.” We use it in companies as a form of communication, for speeches and other business documents. Examples of this can be as technical as a business proposition that you have to present to a simple email sent out to business partners.
Focus: People writing professionally tend to be focused on communicating something. People write this way at a job through whatever method of communication is necessary.

Storyteller Writing – This form of writing can be fun, creative and on-a-whim. Storytelling is when you write a story, or provide its summary, to people. You are literally telling a story. This writing is the umbrella over fiction and nonfiction in most cases. Storytelling is much more laid back.
Focus: It revolves around picture moments, where details and visual images surround a plot. It’s more vivid and "actiony." For fiction, the focus is to entertain through a made-up story. Anything goes! You go wherever your mind takes you. For nonfiction, the focus entails real life stories that center around historical or inspirational life. Nonfiction is grounded in other people’s triumphs, failures and other basic life lessons.

Journalism – Journalism is a bit harder in my opinion. Most journalists work for magazines, newspapers or blogging sites. They research ideas or events and interview others in the subject they are writing about. Journalists can write about traveling, author’s experiences, how to do something – the options are endless.
Focus: Journalism involves people and your social interactions with them. There are many kinds of journalism, but all of them involve people in some fashion. So, meeting people and deadlines would be the main focus.

Historical Writing - Historical writing is grounded in the past. It depends completely on facts, unless you are writing historical fiction, an untrue story told in historical times. There is a much shorter leash when working with historical writing because you can’t stray from your path unless you abandon the history within the story. It’s usually effective with very disciplined writers.
Focus: Staying true to the story or times is the most important focus for achieving the proper historical writing you want. 

Poetry – Poetry is all about imagery, abstract details, and a sense of rhyme and rhythm in most cases. It’s designed to paint a more powerful picture on a smaller canvas.
Focus: For poetry, your focus is paying attention to every word you use. Your job isn’t to describe every detail and draw out long explanations, it’s to get to the point and quick. That’s why every word is important. 

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