Persuasive writing is the art and craft of convincing readers of your position or point of view on an issue. To accomplish this, you must grab the reader’s attention, state a clear thesis, and support your position with logical (logos), emotional (pathos), and character-based (ethos) arguments. Persuasive writing is a fundamental skill that is critical to many different fields and careers. If you write an article, narrative essay, book or movie review, nonfiction book, speech, op-ed, legal brief, business proposal, advertising copy, query letter or book proposal, you are using persuasive writing. In this presentation, we will learn how to write a clear, concise, and compelling persuasive essay as a guide to improve your skills for any form of writing.
James A. Stewart is the author of the narrative nonfiction book Mystery at the Blue Sea Cottage, A True Story of Murder in San Diego’s Jazz Age, which Kirkus Reviews selected as its best indie nonfiction book for March 2022. During a twenty-five-year career in the U.S. Navy, he drafted hundreds of position papers and ghost-wrote numerous articles, speeches, and prepared congressional statements for several three- and four-star officers. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the UC Riverside Palm Desert Low Residency program and a BA in English from National University.
Copyright 2021 San Diego Writers and Editors Guild
