1. Fiction: Imaginative narratives, including novels, short stories, novellas, and fables. Subgenres within fiction are vast (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller, historical fiction).
2. Non-fiction: Factual writing based on real events, people, and places. This includes biographies, autobiographies, essays, memoirs, journalism, and historical accounts.
3. Poetry: Literary work employing aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and meter—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.
4. Drama: Works written for performance on stage, including plays, screenplays, and teleplays. This encompasses various subgenres like comedy, tragedy, and melodrama.
5. Technical Writing: Writing that explains complex information in a clear and concise manner, often used in fields like engineering, computer science, and medicine. Manuals, instruction guides, and scientific papers fall under this category.
6. Creative Non-Fiction: Blends factual reporting with literary techniques, often found in personal essays, memoirs, and literary journalism. It aims for accuracy but employs stylistic elements of fiction to engage the reader.
7. Scriptwriting: A broad category encompassing various forms of writing for visual media, including screenplays (films), teleplays (television), and video game scripts.
It's important to remember that these categories often overlap, and many works blend elements from multiple genres. For example, a historical novel (fiction) might incorporate elements of creative non-fiction if it's based on meticulous research.