Persuasive writing takes many forms, from advertising copy to polemic pamphlets, but its purpose is to try to promote a particular point of view or argument -- unlike a discussion paper, which considers alternative points of view.

Persuasive writing usually consists of the following:

• an opening statement of position (the thesis), "Fox hunting is a cruel and barbaric sport";
• the arguments, often in the form of point plus elaboration, "Foxes rarely attack domestic animals. Statistics show...";
• a summary and restatement of the opening position (reiteration), "We have seen that.... Therefore, all the evidence points unmistakably to the conclusion that fox hunting is cruel and unnecessary."

It is usually written

• in the simple present tense,
• using logical rather than temporal conjunctions, and
• focusing mainly on generic participants.