Writing to Inform

Whatiswritingtoinform?

Where do you find language that informs?

•Newspaper Article.

•Magazine Articles.

•Information Leaflets.

•Football Reports

•School report.

•Bullying incident in school.

•Testing a new product.

•Details from a meeting or a debate.

Writing to inform is __unbiased __and does not give a point of view.

It can be very ‘dry’ to read and it is often uninspiring. It is very __factual. __

However, you will be asked in this exam to write with a purpose.

All your information must stem from the __non-fiction __texts. You will be assessed by how well you include this factual information.

Languagetechniques

When you are ‘writing to inform’, you must consider:

1. Are you providing the right amount o_f _detail? Remember your audience and what they need or want to know!

2. Are the details, whether facts or opinions, relevant and clear?

3. Have you answered the big questions: who, what, where, when, how and why? Remember that it is a factual account and not an opinion piece.

How should you write?

Feature to be included	What does it mean?	What is an example?
Information should usually be given in the present tense.	Give information about what is happening now so use; it is, they are, we will.	Shoppers now spend £1.6 billion a year on plastic products.
Use third person format.	John, Susan, he, she, they	John Donald buys non-plastic items for health reasons.
Information is supported by facts.	Facts are thing that can be proved often shown by numerical evidence.	There are 400 different types of plastic.
Use impersonal voice when writing to inform		Do not speak to the reader by using you or we. Avoid giving personal opinions e.g. I think…		Recycling occurs in the UK.
Give a clear introduction		Use who, what, when and where in your intro
The structure should be organised.		Paragraphs should have sub-headings and begin with a topic sentence.

Exampletext

Simon Cowell is a TV personality. He has been a judge on television shows, such as ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.

Simon Cowell was born in 1959 in London. He has one child, who is called Eric, with his partner, Lauren Silverman.

__Note how the text is purely factual. It contains no opinions. __

Createyourownwritingandassess

Use the following titles to write your own practice essays:

1. Write a letter informing your local government of an environmental issue.

2. Write an email informing a company of a recent problem with a product.

3. Write a speech to the headteacher informing them of the issues in your school.