Elements of Writing

Elements of Writing
 The writer (who)

Elements of Writing
The content (what)

The purpose (why)

The audience (for

whom)

The medium (signs

and symbols)
 Elements of writing
Writer
A writer is a person who uses written
words to communicate ideas. Writers
produce various forms of literary art
and creative writing such as novels,
short stories, poetry, plays, news
articles, screenplays, or essays.
Skilled writers are able to use language
to express ideas and their work
contributes significantly to the
cultural content of a society. The word
is also used elsewhere in the arts –
such as songwriter – but as a standalone
term, "writer" normally refers to the
creation of written language.
 Elements of writing

Content

"Content is the presentation of

information for a purpose to an
audience through a channel in a
form."
 Elements of writing
Content

The definition has five components:

Information
Purpose
Audience
Form
Channel
 Elements of writing
The Purpose

Purpose is the goal or aim of a piece

of writing: to express oneself, to
provide information, to persuade, or to
create a literary work. There are four
purposes writers use for writing. When
someone communicates ideas in writing,
they usually do so to express
themselves, inform their reader, to
persuade a reader or to create a
literary work. In college, we mostly
rely on two
purposes for composition style writing,
and those are to inform or to persuade
the audience.
 Elements of writing

The audience

An Audience is the person for whom a

writer writes, or composer composes. A
writer uses a particular style of
language, tone, and content according
to what he knows about his audience. In
simple words, audience refers to the
spectators, listeners, and intended
readers of a writing, performance, or
speech.
 Elements of writing

The medium

A medium is the way in which a piece of writing

is delivered (email versus a mailed paper copy,
for example). Genre and medium are both
determined by audience and purpose. For example,
if you need to let people in your office know
that there will be a test of the alarm system in
a few days, a brief email might be the easiest
and most efficient way to get that information
across.
 Elements of writing

The medium

If you need to send an acceptance letter to a

job candidate, a formal letter sent by mail or
attached to an email might be most appropriate.
Expectations of formality will affect what genre
you choose. The more formal the purpose, then
the more formal the genre.