Quick Help: Characteristics of writing that makes something happen

• Public writing has a very clear purpose (to promote a local cause or event; to inform or explain an issue or problem; to persuade others to act; sometimes even to entertain). (26a)
• It is intended for a specific audience and addresses those people directly. (26b)
• It uses the genre most suited to its purpose and audience—a poster to alert people to an upcoming fund drive, a newsletter to inform members of a group, a brochure to describe the activities of a group, a letter to the editor to argue for an issue, a video to promote an upcoming musical performance—and it appears in a medium (print, online, or both) where the intended audience will see it. (26b)
• It generally uses straightforward, everyday language.
• It generally uses design to get and hold the audience’s attention.