The Distinction Between Author’s Purpose and Author’s Practice
The craft moves we teach students to achieve their writing goals
Writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, when it’s done well, is an exercise in shaping reader perceptions. The goal of the writer is to take the reader on a journey. The planned destination for the reader might be a deeper understanding of an idea, an adoption of a belief or course of action that is important to the writer, or simply an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience. Regardless of the goal for which we write, we have to write in a way that shapes how the reader perceives the information we have to give.
The Foundation of Author’s Purpose
In elementary school, students learn that the author’s purpose in any piece of writing can be categorized as to persuade, to inform, or to entertain, commonly referred to with the acronym PIE. As a writing teacher, I always found these categories too simplistic, however. Sure, these are worthy goals for any writer, but take a look at most real-world writing, and you’ll see significant overlap between these three goals. The distinction isn’t always so clear cut.
