Compare formats
Which format do you actually need?
Being told to “write a report” is only useful if you know how a report differs from an essay. These 12 pages put neighbouring formats side by side on the things that decide the choice — who reads it, how long it runs, and what counts as finished.
Essay vs article vs blog post
Three formats that look similar on the page and behave completely differently. How to tell which one you actually need to write.
Compare →Résumé vs CV vs Academic CVCV vs résumé
The same word means different documents in different countries. What each one is, and which to send where.
Compare →Summary vs Abstract vs Executive summarySummary vs abstract vs executive summary
Three short pieces that all sit at the front of a longer document — and do three different jobs.
Compare →Essay vs ReportReport vs essay
Both are long, formal, and assessed. They are built on opposite principles.
Compare →Cover letter vs Personal statement vs Motivation letterCover letter vs personal statement vs motivation letter
Three documents about yourself, sent to three different kinds of reader, doing three different jobs.
Compare →Memoir vs Autobiography vs BiographyMemoir vs autobiography vs biography
Three ways to write a life. One is a story, one is a record, one is research.
Compare →Press release vs News articlePress release vs news article
They look almost identical on the page. One is advocacy and one is journalism, and confusing them is how a release gets deleted.
Compare →Pitch vs Proposal vs Query letterProposal vs pitch vs query letter
Three ways of asking for a yes. They differ in length, in what they promise, and in how much of the work you do before you send.
Compare →Grammarly vs LanguageTool vs Hemingway Editor vs BRYME toolsGrammarly alternatives
What Grammarly actually does well, where it is weak, and the free and paid tools worth using instead or alongside it.
Compare →ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs No AI at allChatGPT alternatives for writers
Which AI assistants suit which writing tasks, what they all get wrong, and the disclosure rules that decide whether you can use one at all.
Compare →Google Docs vs Microsoft Word vs Scrivener vs Obsidian or a plain-text setupGoogle Docs alternatives for writers
Where Google Docs stops working for long-form and collaborative writing, and what writers actually move to.
Compare →Hemingway Editor vs BRYME readability score vs BRYME sentence-length checker vs A human readerHemingway Editor alternatives
Readability tools compared — what a grade-level score actually measures, and why chasing it can make your writing worse.
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