Informative

When writing you have to make sure you hit all the criteria. Genre is one criteria you might have to meet. There are many types of genres. Narratives, persuasive, and informative are just a few examples of genre. Informative essays can be challenging because you are trying to convey information in a way that is not arguing or persuading. At the end of the essay, you want the reader to learn something. There are four characteristics to a successful informative that you should follow.

Audience
The first characteristic is your audience. When you begin writing you want to target a specific audience. Knowing who you are targeting can change the focus of your writing. If you are writing to middle schoolers on how to adapt from elementary to middle school, then you need to use vocabulary and terms that younger students will understand. On the other hand, if you are writing to your professor or someone of a higher power, then the writing will be more formal and the vocabulary will be more complex. Another thing to consider with audience is the purpose for why they are reading. If people are reading your writing on broken arms, they should not be reading about other injuries at the end of your paper. Sticking to one topic is a key thing when writing an informative. At the end of the day, the audience is the one reading your paper and their opinion is the only one that matters.

Trustworthy Information
Another characteristic to a great informative is having trustworthy information. When people are reading an informative they want to be informed. They didn’t read your writing to see your opinion on a topic. They want the facts so the readers know that you have credible information. A way to show the readers that the writing is trustworthy and accurate is to use documentation. Citations of published research from the internet, books, and newspapers are one way to document the facts and show where you got it from. Another way to show documentation is to write the date if you conducted any interviews. Anything to help you show the reader that you have accurate, reliable, and trustworthy information you should put in your writing. ==

Defining Key Terms
Defining key terms is another characteristic to an informative. As mentioned in the paragraph prior, you want people to understand the point that you are trying to make. If you are writing to twelve year olds and there are a few words you think they will not understand then define that word in the writing. When people are reading your essay, you do not want them to be confused because of your terminology. If they do read and have no idea what some words mean and get confused, it can ruin your writing because they have no idea what is going on. If they have no idea what you are talking about, then there is no point in reading anymore.

Organization and Structure
Organization and structure is huge in your essay. Your paper has to be organized in an orderly fashion. The readers should be able to navigate through your paper easily to find what they need. When organizing your paper, you will describe, use examples, explaining, and comparing. All of those of those examples are a way to help get your point across most effectively. The organization and structure depends on what type of paper you are writing. If your paper is for an instructor or to a higher power, the paper will have a formal structure. They will most likely tell you the format that it has to be. MLA, APA, and IMRAD common types of formats for a paper. If it is to you classmates you can structure it however you want. Just remember that how you organize it and structure it is important in the paper.