Informative writing
Simply put, informative writing is writing with the purpose to inform. It might be in the form of an instruction manual, an academic journal, an encyclopedia, or even just the back of a box of cereal. Anything that is written with the aim to explain a topic to the reader is informative writing - the reader will often come away having learned something new and interesting. You might see informative writing go by other names, such as explanatory writing, expository writing, or exposition. They all aim to impart information to the reader, and are therefore all informative writing.
Informative writing is one of the main ways that we can communicate through the written word. Informative writing is found everywhere in daily life and it is important to be able to recognise and evaluate what it is saying, where it comes from, and understand the features of informative writing. Informative writing is one of the 3 types of writing in the Australian Curriculum.
Informative writing is one of the most trustworthy forms of writing. It is similar to persuasive writing, as it deals in facts and statistics, but is fundamentally different to persuasive writing as it is impartial. Persuasive writing tends to skew facts or only show one half of the story, in order to get the reader to come round to a particular viewpoint. Purely informative writing on the other hand provides the reader with a rounded overview of all aspects of a topic, from where a person can come up with their own conclusions.
Informative writing is one of the main ways that we can communicate through the written word. Informative writing is found everywhere in daily life and it is important to be able to recognise and evaluate what it is saying, where it comes from, and understand the features of informative writing. Informative writing is one of the 3 types of writing in the Australian Curriculum.
Informative writing is one of the most trustworthy forms of writing. It is similar to persuasive writing, as it deals in facts and statistics, but is fundamentally different to persuasive writing as it is impartial. Persuasive writing tends to skew facts or only show one half of the story, in order to get the reader to come round to a particular viewpoint. Purely informative writing on the other hand provides the reader with a rounded overview of all aspects of a topic, from where a person can come up with their own conclusions.
Informative writing is something that you’ll come across without even recognising it. It can be quickly categorised into a piece of writing that contains useful, relevant, or informative information. In short, anything that tells you something you wouldn’t already know. The closest example to hand is this very page. The text being written here is attempting to provide the reader (that’s you!) with information on the features of informative writing. This is because you have searched for the page, and in a way asked a question.
Other examples of informative writing don’t always rely on the reader participating in a question. Things like signs and notices are small pieces of informative writing that act to no specific audience but to a specific purpose.
If you are participating in education then every resource, activity, lecture, essay, and more that you share with students are informative writing. The ability to create clear and understandable material that gives knowledge can be tricky - but there are several pillars to informative texts that you can hit to make it better.
Informative writing needs to be factual. When you create something that purpose is to give knowledge the knowledge itself needs to be correct. Academic texts, for instance, are often researched and referenced before being given out. This shows that the author has checked through the work for accuracy. As a feature of informative writing it is the most important. People who write factual information are often seen as having a sense of authority over the topic, and trustworthy expertise. This is why you will often see cookbooks written by chefs, or workout plans made by personal trainers - you wouldn’t accept advice on how to make ice cream from a politician. To write good informative texts the information needs to be factual.
Other examples of informative writing don’t always rely on the reader participating in a question. Things like signs and notices are small pieces of informative writing that act to no specific audience but to a specific purpose.
If you are participating in education then every resource, activity, lecture, essay, and more that you share with students are informative writing. The ability to create clear and understandable material that gives knowledge can be tricky - but there are several pillars to informative texts that you can hit to make it better.
Informative writing needs to be factual. When you create something that purpose is to give knowledge the knowledge itself needs to be correct. Academic texts, for instance, are often researched and referenced before being given out. This shows that the author has checked through the work for accuracy. As a feature of informative writing it is the most important. People who write factual information are often seen as having a sense of authority over the topic, and trustworthy expertise. This is why you will often see cookbooks written by chefs, or workout plans made by personal trainers - you wouldn’t accept advice on how to make ice cream from a politician. To write good informative texts the information needs to be factual.
Specificity
Once the information has been verified as accurate it next needs to be specific. Broad information is not always useful, for instance; a road sign that informs drivers a certain street will be closed, but does not say a time or date when this will happen. Yes, the text is informative, and yes it is factual, however the lack of specific information means it isn’t helpful.
A great way to ensure that your informative writing is specific is to ask the questions who, what, why, where, when, and how. It seems like a lot to do but often it’s the best way to narrow down the words into something that's definite. Bare in mind that some information can be left to the readers ability to assume. If a piece of writing has no clear who, then the reader can assume it means them.
Once the information has been verified as accurate it next needs to be specific. Broad information is not always useful, for instance; a road sign that informs drivers a certain street will be closed, but does not say a time or date when this will happen. Yes, the text is informative, and yes it is factual, however the lack of specific information means it isn’t helpful.
A great way to ensure that your informative writing is specific is to ask the questions who, what, why, where, when, and how. It seems like a lot to do but often it’s the best way to narrow down the words into something that's definite. Bare in mind that some information can be left to the readers ability to assume. If a piece of writing has no clear who, then the reader can assume it means them.
Clarity
A popular form of informative writing is recipe or instructions. These provide step by step actions for the completion of a task, and need a lot of clarity. When you are providing information that requires action it’s always best to be as clear as possible. Writers won’t know exactly who reads every piece they create and so you have to assume there may be some people who are new to the information. In a recipe, this may mean being extra clear about the differences in measurements, or why using one ingredient over the other is preferable. The clearer you are, the more knowledge gets passed on from the writing.
Using this clear instructional tone is known as imperative language, and isn’t just found in recipes.
To go back to the road closed sign, sometimes there will be a section that reads ‘no access’ or ‘pedestrians cross here’. These are examples of clear imperative language where the reader is being told to do something.
A popular form of informative writing is recipe or instructions. These provide step by step actions for the completion of a task, and need a lot of clarity. When you are providing information that requires action it’s always best to be as clear as possible. Writers won’t know exactly who reads every piece they create and so you have to assume there may be some people who are new to the information. In a recipe, this may mean being extra clear about the differences in measurements, or why using one ingredient over the other is preferable. The clearer you are, the more knowledge gets passed on from the writing.
Using this clear instructional tone is known as imperative language, and isn’t just found in recipes.
To go back to the road closed sign, sometimes there will be a section that reads ‘no access’ or ‘pedestrians cross here’. These are examples of clear imperative language where the reader is being told to do something.
- Choose an animal.
- Draw the above graphic organiser.
- Use the iPad to research information about your animal.
- We will use this information to practice writing our informative paragraphs.
- Plan an informational writing piece by rereading the prompt Common Core: W.3.5 In this lesson you will learn how to plan an informational article by looking closely at what the writing prompt is asking you to explain.
- Plan an introduction to an informational piece Common Core: W.3.2a In this lesson you will learn how to plan the introduction to an informational article by looking for the key ideas in the text.
- Plan a body paragraph for an informational piece Common Core: W.3.2b In this lesson you will learn how to plan a body paragraph for an informational article by including facts, definitions and details.
- Draft an introduction to an informational piece Common Core: W.3.2a In this lesson you will learn how to draft an introduction for an informational article by presenting the topic, providing background information, and catching the reader’s interest.
- Draft a body paragraph for an informational piece Common Core: W.3.2b In this lesson you will learn how to draft a body paragraph for an informational article by including facts, definitions, and details that will clearly explain the key idea of the body paragraph.
- Draft a conclusion for an informational piece Common Core: W.3.2d In this lesson you will learn how to draft a conclusion for an informational article by restating the topic and summarizing the key ideas.
- Revise a body paragraph by adding details and key ideas Common Core: W.3.5 In this lesson you will learn how to revise a body paragraph in an informational article by adding details that clarify and explain the key ideas.
- Add illustrations to informational writing to clarify ideas Common Core: W.3.2a In this lesson you will learn how to help a reader understand the key ideas in an informational article by adding illustrations that aid comprehension.