Writing is a way of communicating a message to a reader for a purpose. The purpose of writing is to provide information for and persuade a reader. The major focus of informative writing is on the subject being discussed. Informative writing includes reports of observations, ideas, scientific data, facts, and statistics found in textbooks, encyclopedias, technical and business reports, nonfiction books, newspapers, and magazines. The major focus of persuasive writing is the reader whom the writer wants to influence.
Persuasive writing seeks to change the reader's mind.
Examples of persuasive writing include editorials, letters to the editor, reviews, sermons, business or research proposals, opinion essays in magazines, and books that argue a point of view. As you think through and gather ideas for your topic, your task is to establish a focus, or a point of view, about the topic, and support for that focus. You also need to think about the purpose for your writing and the audience. In such situations, you need to select a topic that is suitable for informative or persuasive writing in college, one that reflects your ability to think through ideas. You need to demonstrate that you can use specific, concrete details to support what you want to say.