Writing that is appropriate for your audience and purpose is more enjoyable to read and will help you earn better marks on your assignments. But how do you figure out what your audience and purpose is? Keep reading!
Audience: Who you write for
- Your audience will determine the style of your writing.
- If you are writing for school or work, you use a more formal style than if you are writing for a friend.
- To keep things formal, remember not to use slang (e.g. gonna, ur, back in the day), abbreviations (e.g. Sept., comm.) and contractions (don’t, wouldn’t, should’ve).
- Be careful to use vocabulary that you think your audience will understand.
- Be aware of what your audience knows and does not know about your subject and make sure you explain unfamiliar information clearly.
Purpose: Why you are writing
- Your purpose will determine the content of what you are writing.
- To figure out your purpose, ask yourself what you are trying to achieve with what you are writing. Are you trying to entertain? To explain? To persuade? To teach something new?
- If you are trying to entertain, you will likely choose exciting or humorous details to include in your work. Alternatively, if you are trying to persuade someone, you will probably want to clearly explain your reasoning and back your points up with strong factual evidence.
An activity to help you:
To help you figure out the audience and purpose for your assignment, answer the following questions:
1. What is your subject or topic?
2. Describe your audience.
3. How will writing for this audience affect the way you write about this topic?
4. Describe your purpose.
5. What kind of content should you choose to help you achieve your purpose?
1. What is your subject or topic?
2. Describe your audience.
3. How will writing for this audience affect the way you write about this topic?
4. Describe your purpose.
5. What kind of content should you choose to help you achieve your purpose?
