Informative Writing

Summary

The purpose of Informative writing is to “examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.” (Writing Text Types)  In other words the main point of writing informatively is to relay accurate information to the audience. Informative writing is one of the most common genres of writing for students. Book reports, lab reports, and even newspaper articles are all considered informative writing. Even though informative writing can be found in lots of different places, most pieces of informative writing share the same characteristics. A piece of Informative writing should feature things such as trustworthy information, a confident informative tone, the definitions of key terms, and an appropriate organization for the piece. Along with these key characteristics a piece of informative writing should also be focused towards a specific audience.

Trustworthiness

The main point of informative writing is to relay information. Therefore, the information presented in the writing must be truthful and accurate. The author must also present the information in a way that creates a trustworthy ethos with the audience. The use of citations in any piece of informative writing will help the author seem more trustworthy. The use of specific details and direct quotes will also create a tone of trustworthiness within the writing. These techniques help the author sound confident and well informed on the subject. (Lunsford et al 193)

Confident Informative Tone

An important part of informative writing is having a confident informative tone. An author of an informative paper wants to “work to present information while stopping short of telling readers what to think about or how to feel about a topic.” (Lunsford et al 197)  A reader should not be able to tell the authors opinion on a subject by reading the paper. Word choice is also an important part of having an informative tone. Certain words or phrases can indirectly relay an author’s stance on a subject. (Lunsford et al 195)

Definitions of Key Terms

Informative writings should always include the definitions of any key terms that the audience may not understand. The definitions of these key terms do not need to be a textbook definition so to speak. The author may also provide specific examples of the terms in a clear manner that allows the reader to remember the definition throughout the piece. (Lunsford et al 191)

Organization

An informative writing can be organized in a number of different ways. The goal is to present information in an orderly manner so the audience can easily understand it. Several techniques to organize a paper include, defining, describing, comparing, analyzing, and using examples. These techniques may be used wholly by themselves or in a combination. Many times the organization for an informative paper will be prescribed to the author. Depending on the subject, the paper may be formatted in either the MLA or the APA style. An informative piece may also include a visual such as a chart, photograph or table. The use of visuals may help the audience understand information that is relatively difficult to explain through words. The use of color photos and charts also makes the report more understandable and interesting to the audience. (Lunsford et al 195)

Specific Audience

The final and most important characteristic of informative writing is focusing on a specific audience. This is very important because the type of audience limits the amount of information an author can convey to them as well as the tone of the entire paper. For example, if an author were to write an informative paper for a general audience on the differences between a backdraft and a flashover, he or she would have to explain a great amount of terminology and explain the science behind all of it. Even after explaining all of this information it may be hard for someone without experience in the field to understand. If an author were to write an informative paper for firefighters on the difference, he or she would be able to go into great depth on the subject using scientific terminology that is already known to the audience. (Lunsford et al 188)

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea, Michael Brody, Lisa Ede, Beverly J. Moss, Carole Clark Papper, Keith Walters. ''Everyone’s an Author with Readings. ''New York: Norton, 2013

“Writing Text Types.” Accessed October 7, 2014. http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/writing/secondary/writingtypes.html.