How is an argumentative essay different from an informative essay? Informative writing educates the reader, while argumentative writing relies on emotions to convince the reader. Argumentative writing supports a viewpoint with evidence, while informative writing uses facts to educate the reader. Argumentative writing provides facts about a topic, while informative writing tries to convince the reader using facts. Informative writing uses emotions to convince the reader, while argumentative writing uses logic to convince the reader.