Table of Contents Determine Your Purpose Connect with Your Topic Gather Reliable Information Decide on Your Main Point 10 Consider your Audience 12 Make a Plan 14 Catch the Reader s Attention 16 Be Specific 18 Insert Information smoothly 20 Give Your Sources Credit 22 Wrap It Up 24 Revise before You Edit and Proofread 26 Writer's Checklist 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
Determine Your Purpose readers learn more about a topic or process If you have ever written a report a recipe a holiday wish list or even a Keep Out note to your sibling you have written to inform Most essays for school also involve informing in some way Writing to inform helps You might be writing for an assignment If so the first thing to do is to review the instructions Writing thank you cards is a simple way of writing to inform Thank you for cCain was one day
Quick Tips Informational writing involves informing or explaining to the reader If you are writing for an assignment read the instructions carefully Know your purpose Keep it in mind as you write There are many different reasons for writing to inform Your purpose is the force that will drive your writing Every sentence you write will work toward your purpose Writing directions is also a way of informing carefully Keep in mind what your teacher expects of the essay How long should it be What kind of research will you need to do What questions should you ask before you begin Maybe you are not writing for an assignment Think about what you want to accomplish You might be writing a thank you note for a gift you received Your main purpose in this situation is to tell someone you are thankful You might then explain how you plan to use the gift Maybe you are writing directions to your house for your friends You just want to get them from their homes to
