2. The layout of this leaflet has to consider
the way the leaflet will fold. It is
important to leave enough room for
where the creases will be. It is difficult to
read words that have been folded. This is
because the paper can wear away where
the crease is because of the movement.
The ink will rub off and the words will
not be readable. This ruins the flow and
a flow is important if you want people to
understand your work.
Using bold and bigger lettering for the
titles help with explaining what each
chunk of text is about. If the reader has a
certain point they want explained they
can find it quickly by reading the
subtitles. This saves them time as they
won’t need to skim the whole text. No
one likes reading a lot of writing so
breaking it up into different sections
make the leaflet look more appealing.
A colour scheme has been continued through this example. The colour matches the companies colour scheme. This is so people know
that the product belongs to the company. In this case it is the NHS, a company that a lot of people trust so it’s important that they make
it obvious its their leaflet. More people will be willing to look at the information if it is from a source that they trust. They know that a lot
of research has gone into it and all the facts will be true. This is why it is clever to use your colour scheme on a leaflet. People recognise it
so are more likely to pick it up.
The images are all happy, showing the use of mobiles in a positive light. This makes it look biased but it’s not. The text is saying that
currently they haven’t found anything that proves that using mobiles effect our health but a lot more research needs to be done. They are
showing both sides but the facts stand on the side of mobile usage is safe.
The language used is formal but doesn’t use specific terms. This is to make it easier to understand. If you start using terms that people
don’t know they will stop reading.
3. The text used is a functional and clear
font that is easy to read. It is serif font
to make it look more formal as it is a
textbook.
The subtitle is in bold to let the reader
know that they have started a new
section of the subject.
Diagrams and images have been used
to help illustrate points. Since the
books purpose is to help students
learn, it needs to explain theories and
facts as full as they can. The use of
images and everyday examples will
achieve this.
The language used is formal as it is a
formal product. If they used colloquial
language then it wouldn’t be taken very
seriously.
Because of this the text can’t be biased. It needs to explain all theories and all the questions that hasn’t been answered
yet. If they state an opinion they need to back it up with solid facts to prove that it is the truth.
Humour is often used in these kinds of books as they need to keep students interested. It also helps students remember
facts, like why the theory has been proved wrong. In this cause it is because of the speed of the moon so a cartoon image
has been produced to help portray that and with any luck the image will stick in there head, helping them learn the facts
about the subject.
4. For this type of factual writing the sections have been split up
by boxes. Having the headings in the top of the boxes, using a
contrasting colour, makes it stand out. This helps the reader
see where they need the start reading from.
Again images are used to help explain what the booklet is
about. The first image is to help familiarise yourself with the
equipment you have. This is important as most people won’t
know the name of the smaller parts. The first thing about
factual writing is that you need to include everything, you can’t
assume people already know the names and terms you are
going to use.
The beginning of each step is clearly stated. The font that
follows is quiet small but the fact that the image is a copy
won’t help. Important words are capitalised or are in bold. The
images are the main items because they are the easiest to
understand.
All of the instructions are simplified to make them as
understandable as possible. Instruction manuals usually have
an introductory paragraph to explain the item and its purpose.
The writing is formal as it needs to make sense, the use of
colloquial language would not be suitable for this type of
writing.
5. Clarity: Clarity is needed to ensure that everything is understood. If you leave an instruction to interpretation then the
reader could get it wrong. With some things this wouldn’t matter but if it was a bike or wardrobe that they were building
then there is a health risk and people could get hurt. If the writing is about a cause like how unhealthy smoking is then
they need to make sure the facts are clearly stated with sufficient evidence. Clarity also excuses you from any legal
action taken against you if something goes wrong.
Conciseness: It is important to be concise with your writing. People often get impatient, if they are building
something causing them to skim the text and not follow the instructions correctly. Again this risks people’s health as they
don’t have a structurally strong item. Or they can get bored, meaning they will stop reading. The main point in factual
writing is to spread information so if they don’t read it the info will not be spread. If students got bored reading a textbook
then they wouldn’t learn anything. The book wouldn’t fulfil its purpose making it absolute.
Accuracy: Accuracy is important as people well trust you an believe what you publish. If it is for a text book then it
needs to be up to date and accurate to the latest theories/experiments. If they contain wrong information then this could
cause people to fail their exams. You also can’t publish a document stating that something is good for you when there is
no evidence that proves so. For example, if you created a publication that said that doing drugs was good for you and it
made you live longer than you are liable for any lives that get harmed due to the false information you gave them.
Making sure everything is accurate helps you out if anyone wants to take legal action against you.
Avoidance of ambiguity: The need for everything to be clearly stated so nothing is left to interpretation. While
writing factual writing you have to presume that the person reading it has no prior experience or knowledge of the
subject. As you continue to write you can refer back to previous things you wrote but for an instruction manual the
avoidance of ambiguity is very important. The more precise the information the better. An introductory paragraph and
warning labels would be a good way to get across what the product is for and the dangers that could happen while
building the object. A good way to ensure that things are stated clearly would be to put them in a bold font, emphasising
the important things that if aren’t done properly could result in injury.
6. Bias: Not all factual writing is biased but some end up that way because the evidence swings so highly in favour of
one of the arguments that it ends up promoting a side of an argument. Most leaflets are biased as they are to convince
people about the risks they face so the amount of evidence on these leaflets is overpowering. Most factual writing about
health is biased but some do include the pro’s and con’s of an operation or consumable substance. Some documents
let you decide if something is bad or good because when it comes down to it they can’t physically stop you from doing
anything but showing you that there are so many more con’s than pro’s can change your mind on the matter.
Register: Most factual writing is informal because it needs to be understandable and this is the best way to get a
message across. You don’t want to make the audience feel dumb by using big words or technical terms. However, if the
product is to teach people then it needs to be formal. This is because learning environments are often formal. Technical
terms need to be used in order to teach people more about the subject. It depends on the message you want to get
across and the target audience. For example a text book would be formal as leaflets will mostly be informal.
Evidencing of argument: An argument/opinion means nothing without any evidence to back it up. Evidence
can also help people understand why. For example, evidence that theories in science are wrong can help the student
understand why the theory is wrong instead of just being told that it’s wrong. It’s important to ensure that people
understand the writing and not just take word on what they read. The best factual writing teach people and the use of
evidence is the main way they do this.
Referencing sources: Stating where you got your information from is a good way to convince people that
your point is right. Often the evidence provided is research and experiments that they have collected themselves and
most of the time the research is biased so getting information from a third party will help sway people into believing that
what you are saying is true. Including the person’s name and their job can help with this argument, if the quote is from a
professional then people will take it more seriously. Referencing the information will also turn the liability away from you
so you can’t be blamed if the information is wrong.
7. Legal constraints: The legal constraints apply more to the journalistic side to factual writing. This is because
the media has a lot of laws that need to be followed. For example, libel law. This states that there should be no
defamation. You shouldn’t discriminate a person/s reputation on purpose. Never target a single individual and if you
do don’t name them. Withholding information like names and other personal information is called a gagging order,
they are usually authorized by the court.
Codes of practice:
NUJ codes, editors code of practice, ASA guidelines and trading standards
National Union of Journalists, NUJ, codes are the main rules that need to be followed by written media. The outline
of these rules are that you have to publish accurate information and not discriminate against anyone. The NUJ
support journalists that want to stick to these rules as most publications now publish lies and need to the lies to have
stories to publish. This means that if you want to publish the truth 24/7 you will most likely struggle for work. The
other codes of practice are pretty similar, that all information needs to be accurate, you must respect people and their
privacy and that the public has a right to be informed about news. It’s important that you follow these codes are your
work may not be published, if it somehow does then you are likely to get sued. If the article states that a said person
has committed a crime or scandal. If this person has a gagging order set on that certain story then you will be taken
to court.
