by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: March 01, 2010

There is almost a requirement to be creative when writing factual articles. Simply collecting, reporting or paraphrasing facts does not bring the information alive or present it in a way that makes concepts more digestable for the human mind. When presenting well known facts, there is a need for the writer to stand out by coming up with new understandings or broadening the understandings and implications fo the material.

There are many tools of creativity that can be used in factual writing. Some areas of creativity are in using examples, anecdotes, comparisons, photos, videos, links to web pages, and the possibilities of the future.

In using examples, a writer can find news reports, interview a person who is knowledgeable about the topic, or relate the topic to real world events, carefully researching to ensure that there is a relationship or real world occurrence. Even a cooking recipe can include an example of a technique, such as freezing separate components of a meal, by describing how the new skillet dinners have the sauce, meat, and pasta separately frozen so that they will thaw and heat up at the same time.

In using anecdotes, the writer is expected to use their existing body of knowledge, or life and work experience to describe an event where the principle was used, tested, innovated or even failed to offer proof. Research will probably offer up a journal article or news report where anecdotes can serve as real world clarifications and examples of a concept, while making the dry facts more palatable.

Comparisons allow the reader to know how size, proportion, differences or similarities exist. Comparisons allow a lot of creativity, especially when we compare the amount of paper that is wasted each year to a pile that reaches the moon, for example.

Using possibilities requires that the writer has enough of a body of knowledge and education about the topic to make a statement of imagination, expansion, hypothesis, or probability that a future version of the topic might go in a particular direction. This is a combination of well supported science fiction, theorizing or hypothesizing that is based on sound knowledge and reasoning that must stand up to challenge. Words such as "It might be possible", or "I imagine that..." or "The latest theory is..." should warn the reader that this is not fact, but is theorizing or speculating.

Other ways to be creative in factual articles are to include photos and videos and links to web pages that have more information, maps, charts, images, or depictions of parts of the topic. Creating and inserting your own charts and graphs is possible with word software.

The last area of creativity is always in the organization of the material. In most word processing software there is heavy firepower in fonts and font tools, word wrapping, and managing text.  An article can literally go from being unreadable to enjoyable just by changing the ways in which the material is organized and formatted!

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth M Young.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.