Writers of informative essays focus on reporting information to their readers. As you prepare a draft of your informative essay, you’ll decide which information, ideas, and arguments to present and how you will share them with your readers.

Your decisions about what to focus on, which points to make, and what evidence to use will influence what your readers learn about your subject and how they are likely to understand it. Although reporters strive for objectivity in their writing, experienced writers recognize the difficulty of presenting information in a completely unbiased manner. They understand that their choices can (and will) lead readers to think about a subject in a particular way. Consider a writer selecting details for an informative essay about the impact of a recent ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Statistical information about cash register receipts would focus readers’ attention on financial implications of the ban for small business owners; a photograph of an asthmatic bartender might encourage readers to consider the positive public health effects of such a ban; and an interview with a smokers’ rights advocate could emphasize concerns about eroding personal freedoms. No matter how objectively the writer presents the information, the final mix of statistics, images, and quotations will affect the conclusions readers draw from the document.

It’s best to begin by choosing a main point and expressing it as a thesis statement. Then you can decide what supporting points and evidence will most effectively support your main point. During the drafting process, you should also decide whether to include visual information, how to organize your ideas, and how to frame your introduction and conclusion.