Genre

Genre is the type of text and will depend on the task which you are required to do. For example, for Moving Images in GCSE English Language, you could be asked to do a film review or, for Commissions, a newspaper article may be the required genre. Once you know the required genre, you can identify the purpose of your writing then the target audience and the style you should use.

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Audience

Remember that audience is a very important aspect of writing. The person or people who are the target readers of your writing should always be considered. As with your non-fiction writing, examiners will be looking at the skills you use to appeal to the audience and how you adapt your language. In this module, both your pieces should be written using interesting language and with the purpose of engaging and entertaining the reader in addition to other purposes. Think back to writing techniques, such as those in AFOREST, and use examples of these to gain marks.

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Purpose

It may be helpful to look back at the non-fiction section to remind yourself about the different kinds of purposes a text can have: to explain, inform, teach, persuade, express an opinion, entertain, describe, or provoke a response. It is the purpose of your text which will determine its content and the writing techniques you use.

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Style

Style is about how information is given to the audience not the actual information itself. It is the relationship between the form and content of a text. When you produce creative writing, the style must be consistent as examiners will be looking for this. For example, if you are writing a film review, you should use Standard English, paragraphs and language markers to connect your arguments. However, as it is a film review, generally associated with leisure and aimed at convincing audiences to relax and enjoy a film, you can have a semi-informal tone.

Other areas to remember are setting, character, mood, voice and description. These will be explained where relevant in each task section.