: Writing with Intent – Why Audience, Tone and Purpose Matter Writing with intent transforms writing from a task to a tool – shaped by audience, tone and purpose from the very first word.
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Writing with Intent – Why Audience, Tone and Purpose Matter
Writing with intent transforms writing from a task to a tool – shaped by audience, tone and purpose from the very first word.
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by Town End Research School
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Stella Jones is the Director of Town End Research School and the current Research School Network Content Lead for Primary Literacy.
We don’t write just for the sake of it. We write to connect. To move. To matter.
Before the first word is chosen, strong writers have already asked themselves: Who am I writing for? What do I want them to feel? Why am I writing this at all?
In the classroom, helping pupils tune into audience, tone and purpose isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s essential. Without it, writing becomes an exercise in going through the motions. With it, writing becomes meaningful.
Start with the reader
At the heart of every effective piece of writing is a clear sense of audience. Whether it’s a classmate, a character, a headteacher, or the wider public, the audience shapes how we write — what we include, the tone we take, and the choices we make.
Too often, audience is implied but not explored. We ask pupils to write a letter, a story or an argument — but we rarely pause to ask: Who will read this? What do they know? How do I want them to respond?When we start modelling writing with the audience firmly in mind, pupils begin to adapt. They shift formality, choose details differently, and begin to consider impact.
Tone: The unspoken message
If audience is about who, then tone is about how.
Tone conveys mood, attitude and intent. It can be celebratory or scathing, solemn or sarcastic. At its simplest, it can be positive or negative — but it can also be many shades in between.
When pupils understand tone, they learn to control the emotional flavour of their writing. They learn that punctuation, vocabulary, syntax and even rhythm all carry meaning. And they learn that good writing isn’t neutral — it’s intentional.
> Model tone aloud: “I’m going to change this sentence. It sounds too harsh — I want the reader to feel reassured, not judged.”
> Prompt pupils to notice: “What kind of mood does this sentence create?”
Purpose beyond the obvious
We often teach the “big four” purposes of writing:
* To describe * To narrate * To inform * To persuade
And while these categories can be useful, they don’t always provide authentic reasons to write.
We write to warn. To flatter. To entertain, to intimidate, to pay tribute. We write to celebrate, to reflect, to remember. We write to explore our own thinking — to learn.
When pupils grasp this richer view of purpose, their writing becomes more than a box-ticking task. It becomes a tool.
So, when modelling writing, start with purpose. Ask aloud:
“What do I want the reader to feel after reading this?” “What change do I want to create in them?” “Am I writing to share, to surprise, or to stir something up?”
Reading like a writer
Understanding audience, tone and purpose isn’t just a writing skill — it’s a reading one too.
When pupils read like writers, they ask:
Who was this written for? How is the writer trying to influence me? What tone are they striking — and how?
This analytical lens improves comprehension, deepens critical thinking, and helps pupils transfer skills from reading to writing — and back again.
Writing with intent
Our writing should always be in conversation with the reader. That means making audience, tone and purpose visible — not just in the finished product, but in the process.
In the first video of our Modelled Writing series, you’ll see how teachers introduce these concepts early and often. They prompt pupils to ask, “Who am I writing for?” and “What do I want them to experience?” — so that from the first draft to the final edit, writing has direction.
Because when pupils write with intent, they don’t just write better — they write with purpose.
