Writing Non-Fiction: Articles, Letters, Speeches and Essays

The Section B writing task on Paper 2 gives you three instructions in one line: an audience (who you are writing for), a purpose (why you are writing) and a form (what type of text to produce). Reading these correctly is the first decision that shapes your whole answer.

Audience is the specific reader — teenagers, parents, an MP, newspaper readers. Purpose is the job the writing does — usually to argue or persuade on Paper 2, but sometimes to advise or explain. Form is the shape the text takes: an article, letter, speech, essay, leaflet or blog.

Instruction	Question to ask	What it changes
Audience	Who am I writing for?	Vocabulary, tone, how much I explain
Purpose	What am I trying to do?	Structure, techniques, how forceful I am
Form	What type of text is this?	Opening, layout conventions, sign-off

This question is worth 40 marks: 24 for content and organisation (AO5, the objective that rewards communicating clearly and adapting your writing to form, purpose and audience) and 16 for technical accuracy (AO6). Getting the form right is a real slice of that AO5 mark.

Register is how formal or informal your language is. Think of it as a dial you turn to match your reader: a letter to a headteacher sits near the formal end, a blog for teenagers sits nearer the casual end, and most article writing lands in a confident middle.

Turning the dial too far in either direction loses marks. A slang-filled letter to a council reads as disrespectful; a stiff, jargon-heavy blog for young readers feels wrong for the audience.

Register	Suits	Features
Formal	Letters to officials, essays, serious speeches	Standard English, no contractions, measured tone, precise vocabulary
Semi-formal	Broadsheet articles, most speeches	Clear and confident, occasional rhetorical flourish, direct address
Informal	Blogs, teen-magazine articles	Contractions, humour, conversational asides, shorter sentences

Whatever register you choose, keep the writing in accurate Standard English — the grammatically standard form of English expected in the exam. Informal is not the same as careless: a blog can be chatty and still spell, punctuate and construct its sentences correctly.

Decide your register in the first thirty seconds, then hold it steady. A response that starts formal and drifts into slang loses the "consistently matched" quality examiners reward for AO5.

An article appears in a newspaper, magazine or website and usually argues a point of view. It is the most common form on this question, so know its shape well.

• Headline: a short, punchy title that signals the topic, sometimes with wordplay. One line is enough.
• Optional strapline: a single sentence under the headline that expands the hook.
• Opening hook: a striking fact, a bold claim, a short anecdote or a question that pulls the reader in.
• Body: three or four developed paragraphs, each advancing the argument, linked with discourse markers (words such as "however" or "furthermore" that signal how ideas connect).
• Ending: a memorable final line that leaves the reader with your view.

An example opening for an article arguing that libraries should stay open:

The Quiet Rooms We Cannot Afford to Lose

Last winter, a single warm, silent room kept my grandmother company three afternoons a week. Close the libraries, and you do not save money — you take away the one place some people can still afford to think.

Notice the headline, the personal hook, and the clear viewpoint stated by the end of the second sentence. Spend little time on the headline itself; the marks live in the argument beneath it.

Letters and speeches share a focus on a direct relationship with the reader or listener, but their conventions differ.

A formal letter to an official uses a small number of layout signals, then reads as a reasoned argument:

• Open with "Dear Sir or Madam" or a named recipient, and sign off "Yours faithfully" (unnamed) or "Yours sincerely" (named).
• State your reason for writing in the first paragraph.
• Develop the argument politely but firmly; avoid slang and sarcasm.

A speech is written to be heard, so it leans on sound and rhythm and a strong sense of a live audience:

• Open with a greeting that fits the occasion and address the audience directly ("Fellow students", "Good evening").
• Use rhetorical devices — a rhetorical question (one asked for effect, not for an answer), a tricolon (a group of three), repetition — to carry the listener.
• Close with a call to action or a line built to be remembered.

For both forms, resist over-designing the layout. Two or three conventions signal you know the form; after that, every mark comes from the quality of the writing itself.

Three further forms round out what the task can ask for. Each has a distinct job.

An essay is a formal, balanced piece that develops an argument in an orderly way. It has no headline or greeting — just a clear opening that sets out your line, well-linked paragraphs, and a conclusion that resolves the argument. Register stays formal throughout.

A leaflet informs or advises and is the most visually structured form. You can suggest structure in words — a clear title, subheadings, and short, scannable sections — without drawing boxes. Keep sentences crisp and reader-focused.

A blog is a personal, opinionated online post. It has a title, a strong personal voice, and a conversational register with contractions and direct address. It is more relaxed than an article but still argues a clear viewpoint.

Form	Register	Signature conventions
Essay	Formal	Clear thesis opening, linked paragraphs, resolving conclusion
Leaflet	Semi-formal	Title, subheadings, short scannable sections, advice tone
Blog	Informal	Personal voice, contractions, direct address, chatty asides

Whatever the form, the underlying task is the same: present a viewpoint clearly and persuasively. The form changes the packaging, not the need for a well-argued, well-organised piece.

Once you have read the audience, purpose and form, plan the argument. A dependable shape works across all six forms.

1. Opening: hook the reader and make your viewpoint clear within the first few lines.
2. Three or four developed paragraphs: one idea each, each opening with a topic sentence, then developed with an example, a technique and a consequence.
3. A shift or counter: acknowledge and dismiss an opposing view to show range and confidence.
4. Ending: a deliberate final line — a call to action, a return to the opening image, or a memorable statement.

Link paragraphs with discourse markers so the reader is guided from one idea to the next: "However", "Furthermore", "In contrast", "Above all". These signal the logic of your argument and support the "coherence and cohesion" that AO5 rewards.

Plan for five minutes before writing. A clear plan is what separates a controlled, connected response from a list of points that never build into an argument.

Vary your sentences and control your paragraphing — this is where AO5 organisation and AO6 technical accuracy overlap and where the top bands are won.

1. Ignoring the named audience

The task tells you exactly who you are writing for. A response pitched at nobody in particular, or at the wrong reader, loses AO5 marks for tone and register. Name the audience in your plan and picture them as you write.

2. Over-designing the layout

Elaborate headlines, drawn boxes, full postal addresses and decorative subheadings eat time and earn almost nothing. Two or three conventions are plenty; the marks are in the writing.

3. Choosing the wrong register

Slang in a formal letter, or stiff formality in a teen blog, breaks the match between writing and audience. Set your register early and hold it.

4. Listing points instead of building an argument

A pile of disconnected reasons sits in the middle bands. Develop each point — example, technique, consequence — and link paragraphs with discourse markers so the argument builds.

5. Forgetting technical accuracy

AO6 is 16 of the 40 marks. Careless spelling, missing punctuation and repetitive sentence forms drag the mark down even when the ideas are strong. Leave two or three minutes to proofread.