What is The Differences Between Academic And General Writing

Writing is an essential aspect of information creation. It allows people in different parts of the world to communicate data to various audiences. For this reason, there are various types of written content which serve different purposes. Each content has its distinctive tone, rules and structure, which allows writers to interact with their readers effectively.

In the education sector, teachers and students mostly use academic writing. As you can imagine, this content type is very different from general writing. That said, not every person knows or understands these differences. As such, this article will be helpful to you if you do not know how to differentiate between academic and general writing.

Academic Writing

Academic writing is a type of writing which presents theoretical information from a single point of view. It also focuses on a single subject. In addition, people who create academic text develop this content to document the phenomenon or observation from an objective stance while considering specific constraints. Therefore, researchers and professionals primarily produce this content as journal papers or peer-reviewed articles. Likewise, this content is most suitable for people with an in-depth understanding of the subject.

An academic text usually takes any of the four forms listed below.

• Critical;
• Descriptive;
• Persuasive;
• Analytical.

In addition, academic writing can be written by any academician or professional who conducts research. Therefore, this content type is not restricted to science and related fields as popularly understood.

As a student, you will have to create different types of academic content, some more complicated and challenging than others. To make this task easier, you can use the service of a professional content platform to improve your academic writing. Writer hour is an excellent website for ordering academic writing. They have experts who can tackle different topics, create papers of different complexity, and meet even the tightest deadlines.

General Writing

As the name implies, general content takes a broader outlook. It gives a reader a preview of a subject without including in-depth analysis usually associated with academic writing. As such, general writing can appeal to all readers regardless of their background or education level. For this reason, this content is the most popular and commonly used on websites, blogs, magazines, and newspapers. Such writing is suitable for everyone, can be easily understood by the general audience, and doesn’t require such strict structure and formatting as academic writing.

Comparison Between Academic and General Text

From the description of each content type, there is a clear difference between academic and general content. Thus, this section will provide a more detailed comparison of each kind of write-up.

Purpose

Academic writing is created with a specific purpose that is usually narrow and unambiguous. Hence, this content is mostly created by students, professors, and other people involved in active research. In most cases, an institution will require students to develop this write-up as a requirement for graduation in masters and doctoral programs. Likewise, researchers and professors must continuously create educational articles to progress in their careers.

General text can be for any purpose. It can be written for fun or for making money. Thus, any person can create and publish this kind of content.

Grammar and Structure

When writing academic texts, the writer is required to use formal language. Therefore, the grammar and structure of the write-ups are much more defined than that of general writing. Students learn how to write formally when they are taught writing skills in school and college. In addition, a teacher or publication usually provides guidelines that must be followed to the letter.

General writing can be formal or informal. Its structure depends on what the writer wants to achieve. With general writing, formality or informality can be interchangeably used if the context permits.

Conclusion

Although academic and general content don’t seem that different at first glance, there are major differences between these types of texts. These types of writing have different audiences, purposes and requirements. Hopefully, having read this article, you are more confident in your ability to differentiate between academic and general writing. 

About the Author

Joanne Elliot is a creative writer who runs her own business. She also contributes write-ups to professional writing platforms. On the other hand, Joanne likes to travel and explore new environments.