THE WRITER'S PURPOSE

 The Purpose of Writing

        All things in life have purpose- writing included. Even the scribblings of a child just learning to write have purpose- most often, their purpose is to imitate adults who create meaning through writing.

        But what is purpose? The purpose of anything is its reason for being or existing. In writing, purpose refers to the writer's reason for putting pen to paper. Most writing, especially in the world of academia, falls into one of three categories: to persuade, to inform, or to  entertain.

 

         The pie chart above represents the three main purposes for writing in academia.  

Many teachers will tell students that writing is as easy as PIE, an acronym which represents the purposes for writing as listed before. Let me advise you, before you write anything, be sure to know the purpose for which you write. Writing for a grade is not a good enough reason to write- it is actually a sure way to gamble with the quality of your work and ironically, your grade. To write well, you need to have a clear purpose in mind. Do you mean to convince your audience to believe the things that you believe? Are you trying to provide important information? Perhaps you want to entertain your reader with a story. Having a clear idea of why you are writing is the first step to writing and communicating well. Please note that the concept of author’s or writer’s purpose that you would have learned about when criticising or evaluating the work of more seasoned writers now becomes your first concern. You are now the author/writer. What is your purpose for writing? You may want to review more specific reasons for writing as listed below.

Reasons for writing:

1)    To complain about poor customer service

2)    To apply to be invited to a job interview

3)  To explain a process

4)    To congratulate someone

5)    To advertise a product or service

6)    To ridicule a particular person or situation

        The list of possible purposes for writing is by no means limited to the six here. This list is simply a more specific set of examples of why you may take on the beautiful task of writing. If you look closely, you will notice that each of the purposes for writing listed falls under one of the categories of PIE. Let us look a little closer at PIE.

    Writing to Persuade

    The purpose of persuasive or argumentative writing is always to convince your readers that your stance on an issue is correct. When you acknowledge that this is your purpose, it puts your writing in the best place to communicate your thoughts with your readers using the concept specific to the argumentative discourse. This means you will know the physical structure that your essay is supposed to take; the sub-concepts that must be included; and the type of language that needs to be employed.  For example, writing in this discourse mandates the use of persuasive techniques. No other discourse mandates this. If you intend to persuade an audience, yet you use no persuasive techniques, you have failed to achieve your purpose. You would not be able to receive a passing grade. 

   Knowing your purpose for writing also helps you to choose the correct form of persuasion. It is true that persuasive writing and argumentative writing have the same purpose; but they have distinctions which make them suitable for different situations. Thus, to write effectively, not only must you know your purpose for writing, you must also have some knowledge of the discourse-specific concepts which will help shape your final work.

 Let me reiterate, you do not write for a grade. You write to effect change. Most writing persuasion is scenario or conflict based. The scenario or conflict that you may receive as a prompt for persuasive/argumentative writing may be made-up, but you must assume a serious role as a writer and write primarily based on the exact scenario or conflict and not simply for a grade. 

Writing to Inform  

    Like persuasion, writing to inform also has discourse-specific expectations. The discourse which primarily informs is called expository writing. This type of writing primarily explains and makes use expository patterns such as cause and effect, problem and solution, process analysis, comparison and contrast, etc. If you know for sure that you are expected to simply write to educate your audience, you know from before you begin that your essay or article must use a single or a combination of expository pattern(s); and your letter must include the 5W's- what, who, where, when, how- among other things. You also know that you do not need persuasive techniques- even though there are a few such techniques which makes explaining more interesting or credible. It is important to establish your purpose for writing is within your mind before you start writing in order to maximise your writing's effectiveness.

Writing to Entertain 

    This type of writing is not usually done as well as it should be. Unlike other types of writing previously mentioned, this type of writing, narrative or story writing, is more fictional than it is ever factual. This means it is almost always made-up by the writer. Well, then why do some students do so poorly in this type of writing? How can something from a writer's imagination receive a low grade? One big reason for poorly written stories is the writer's lack of understanding of the genre's purpose. The writer here is a storyteller and the storyteller's main purpose is to entertain. It is possible that the meaning of entertainment is lost on those who are not widely read. It is possible that at some point, in the minds of inexperienced readers, entertainment became synonymous with a happy ending. Let's debunk that now. To entertain simply means to engage readers' five senses as well as their emotions with your writing. If you do this, your readers get lost in your story, and even feel like they are right there within the plot. If you can make your reader not just happy, but sad at points, angry at other points, disappointed or excited through your writing, you have succeeded in entertaining. Do not forget that once you know for sure that you mean to entertain, you are expected to write using the sub-concepts of this genre of writing. 

Final Thoughts 

 The bottom line is, if you know firstly, why you write, your readers' experience with your writing is already positive. The second step to writing well is to educate yourself about the discourse within which you have chosen to write. Aim to write well. Take responsibility for your audience's experience with your work. Do not carelessly write for a grade. Write to effect change in your reader, your society and your world at large. Start here with the writer's purpose. Knowing why you write will result in the quality of the work you create.

 

What do you think my purpose for writing this article is? You may message me your response or blog topic request related to English at misspowellenglish@gmail.com. 

If you are a student studying CSEC English, check out my YouTube channel for guidance: Ms. Powell English - YouTube