Writing for Purpose and Audience

Writing that hits its target

Good writing is never just correct; it is right for the reader and the job. Before writing a word, a strong writer asks two questions: what is this for, and who is it for? The answer to the first is the purpose, such as to persuade, inform, argue or advise. The answer to the second is the audience, the people who will read it. From those two decisions everything else follows: the form you write in, such as a letter or an article, how formal you are, the words you choose, and the techniques you use. This module shows how to write for a purpose and an audience, how to shape and structure a piece, and how accuracy and clear organisation help your writing land well with the reader it is meant for.

Writing words

Learn these five terms before you plan a piece of writing.

Match each purpose to a writing task

Formal against informal register

The register you choose depends entirely on who will read the writing.

What is its purpose?

A leaflet is written to tell visitors how to find their way to a hospital and where to park. What is its main purpose?

• To inform
• To persuade
• To entertain only
• To complain

Always write for a reader

The single most useful habit in writing is to decide the purpose and the audience before you begin, and then to check every choice against them. A persuasive piece aimed at teenagers reads very differently from a formal report aimed at a head teacher, even when the topic is the same. Ask yourself: given who will read this and why, is this the right form, the right level of formality, and the right kind of language? A brilliant sentence in the wrong register still fails, because it does not suit the reader. So plan for the reader first, write to reach that reader, and read it back at the end as if you were them. Writing that forgets its reader is the commonest way marks are lost.

Pick the true facts about purposeful writing

Select every statement about writing for purpose and audience that is true.

• The purpose is the reason you are writing
• The register should match the audience
• A letter and an article are different forms
• You should write the same way for every reader
• Technical accuracy does not matter in writing

Order how to plan a piece of writing

Put the steps of planning a piece of writing in a sensible order.

• Work out the purpose and the audience
• Choose the right form and register
• Plan the main points in order
• Write clear paragraphs with linking words
• Check the spelling, punctuation and grammar

Complete the writing facts

The reason you are writing is your _____. The people who will read it are your _____. The type of text, such as a letter or an article, is the _____. How formal or informal the writing is, is its _____.

A message to a friend and a letter to a council

Imagine you want the broken street light outside your house fixed. You might dash off a quick message to a friend who lives nearby, joking about tripping over the bins in the dark. To the local council, though, you would write a careful, polite letter, setting out the problem clearly and asking for it to be repaired soon. Same event, two completely different pieces of writing. What changed was who you were writing to and why, and everything else followed from that: how formal you were, which words you chose, how you laid it out on the page. Good writers settle those two things first and let every other choice fall into place, so the writing works for the exact reader it is meant to reach.

Tap the persuasive techniques

Tap every item below that is a technique used to persuade a reader.

• a rhetorical question
• direct address to the reader
• a list of three
• the price of a bus ticket

The writing run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Choose how to write it

Read each situation and choose the best approach.

• You are writing to persuade classmates to join a new club. What helps most?
• You are writing a formal complaint to a shop about a faulty product. What suits it?
• You have finished a piece of writing. What should you do before handing it in?

Build a writing point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one accurate point about writing.

Explain how to write for purpose and audience

A friend has to write a persuasive letter for an exam and does not know how to start. Explain clearly how to write for a purpose and an audience.

• Explain what purpose and audience mean
• Explain how to choose the right form and register
• Explain some techniques used to persuade a reader
• Explain why clear structure and linking words help the reader
• Explain why technical accuracy matters