Writing Techniques To Look Out For :
Here are some basic types of writing.
Writing to:
Entertain
Stories, books, poems, plays, magazine articles etc
Inform
Leaflets, pamphlets, newspaper articles etc
Persuade
Advertising, leaflets, pamphlets etc
Instruct
How to...........leaflets, manuals, recipes etc
Your first job is to try and establish what kind of writing you have.
Once you have decided what kind of writing you have you can look out for certain writing techniques.
A lot of writing will have primary and secondary purposes. An advertisement might want to persuade you to use a certain product or service but it will also have to entertain you to a certain extent or you won't bother to read it.
An informative leaflet might simply give pure information (which is rare) or it might also want you to change your behaviour in some way which is, to a certain extent, persuasive and it might also have to be reasonably entertaining or you won't bother to read it.
Might have an interesting and/or gripping plot filled with unusual or exciting events.
Might describe interesting or unusual places, people, things and events using descriptive techniques.
Interesting or unusual adjectives and adverbs, singly and in combinations;
Striking or unusual metaphors and smiles;
Dramatic or emotive language;
Dramatic dialogue, perhaps written to represent accent, dialect, and class or characters' attitudes.
It might not be written in what you might think of as proper or Standard English.
Look at the sentences. You will probably find a mixture of simple, compound and complex sentences to add variety and interest. A succession of short sentences might create action, drama or tension. Longer ones might indicate a passage of description or reflection.
Poetry could certainly use interesting description and imagery using adverbs, adjectives, metaphor and simile. It might use rhyme for effect or it might not. It might use repetition of words, phrases or sounds (like alliteration) to create rhythms. It might vary sentence and line lengths to create certain effects.
Could be informative, persuasive and/or entertaining.
| Headlines | Purpose - Attract attention/get reader to read |
| Sub headlines | Purpose - Break text up to make it easier to read or less threatening and off putting AND/OR guide the reader through the text so that they could skip to certain sections if they wanted. Makes the article look more attractive or dynamic to stimulate the reader. |
| Columns | Purpose - Again breaks up text, makes it look as if there isn't too much to read and it makes it attractive to the reader. |
| Short (possible one sentence) paragraphs | Purpose - Again breaks up text/ Looks as if there is not too much to read. Doesn't threaten reader. |
| Photographs/Illustrations | Purpose - Again breaks up text. Could be dramatic or emotional or factual to illustrate main points of article. |
| Puns/Jokes | Purpose - To entertain reader/get them reading (often found in headings and sub headings) |
| Simple vocabulary | Purpose - Articles often have to appeal to a wide readership so simple vocabulary makes it easy for everyone to read. Although it is often mixed with.... |
| Complex or polysyllabic vocabulary | Purpose - Newspapers, if they are informing or persuading can often use more complex vocabulary because they want to sound educated or authoritative so they sound as if they know what they are talking about. |
| Facts and Figures | Look out for dates or numbers. Purpose - they sound authoritative and knowledgeable. |
| Opinions | Learn to distinguish between a fact and an opinion. Opinions do not necessarily have a basis in fact and if they are mixed in with facts they can often go unnoticed and we thin they are facts. Mixing fact and opinion is a way of persuading people to believe that you are right. |
| Sentence structure | Simple sentences, like simple vocabulary, make the text accessible to a wider readership because they are easy to read. Compound and complex sentences are more difficult to read but, like complex vocabulary, make the article sound educated or authoritative and are therefore more believable (possible more persuasive) to reader. |
| Starting sentences with And, But or So | These are normally conjunctions or joining words that are used to join two simple sentences into one compound sentence. Grammatically speaking you are not supposed to start sentences in this way although we do it all the time when we speak. It is done to break the sentences down into simple sentences and to make the text more like speech than writing in order to make the text accessible. |
| Entertaining techniques | Look out for features of entertaining writing. Newspaper and magazine articles also have to be reasonably entertaining or we don't read them. Look out for drama, powerful or emotive words, dialogue or direct quotations from real people to create interest or experts to add authority. Look out for alliteration or puns and jokes. See the entertaining writing for a complete list. |
Leaflets, Booklets and Pamphlets
These could be to inform, instruct, or persuade or a mixture of these.
It could be a leaflet giving information and advice on how to deal with noisy neighbours or how to give up smoking.
It could be a booklet giving you facts about drugs and the abuse of drugs.
It could be an advertising leaflet trying to get you to buy a product or service or visit places.
Layout
Look out for similar techniques to newspapers
e.g. Headlines, subheadings, columns, short paragraphs and use of photographs, graphs or illustrations to break up the text and make it look less 'threatening' and more 'readable'
Language techniques
They could include all the techniques above but there might also be a couple more
Personal pronouns
Like You and Your address the reader directly and try to involve them in the text.
Like I and Me are generally giving a personal view point or opinion.
Like We and Our are inclusive and try to include the reader and get them involved.
The use of personal pronouns also tends to suggest a chatty or informal style of writing
Questions
Can often be used to involve the reader.
Imperatives
Give instructions to try to get the reader to act like
Buy it now
Send today. Don't delay.
Tone
Is it formal (long, complex sentences, complex vocabulary)
Or informal (short sentences, sentences starting with conjunctions, personal pronouns, non-sentences e.g. Want to try? (proper sentence Do you want to try?)