5.8 Academic Writing¹

Obviously you can write. And in the age of Facebook and smartphones, you might be writing all the time, perhaps more often than speaking. So why spend yet more time and attention on writing skills? Research shows that deliberate practice—that is, close focus on improving one’s skills—makes all the difference in how one performs. Revisiting the craft of writing will improve your writing much more than simply producing page after page in the same old way. Becoming an excellent communicator will save you a lot of time and hassle in your studies, advance your career, and promote better relationships and a higher quality of life off the job. Honing your writing is a good use of your scarce time.

Writing Process

The reality is you will be writing–a lot–during your college career.  Suppose you complete about 40 classes for a 120-credit bachelors’ degree, and—averaging across writing-intensive and non-writing-intensive courses—you produce about 2500 words of formal writing per class. Even with that low estimate, you’ll write 100,000 words over your college career. That’s about equivalent to a 330-page book. Spending a few hours sharpening your writing skills will make those 100,000 words much easier and more rewarding to write.

By the end of high school you probably mastered many of the key conventions of standard academic English such as paragraphing, sentence-level mechanics, and the use of thesis statements. However, college writing assignments require you to apply those skills to new intellectual challenges. Professors assign papers because they want you to think rigorously and deeply about important questions in their fields.  This kind of scholarly approach usually entails writing a rough draft, through which you work out a thesis and the scope of your argument.  Then working on a second draft containing a mostly complete argument anchored by a refined thesis. In that second round, you’ll discover holes in the argument that should be remedied, counter-arguments that should be acknowledged and addressed, and important implications that should be noted. When the paper is substantially complete, you’ll go through it again to tighten up the writing and ensure clarity.

Many students have a powerful distaste for truly revising (i.e., actually rewriting) a paper because it feels like throwing away hard-won text. Consequently, when students are invited or required to revise an essay, they tend to focus on correcting mechanical errors, making a few superficial changes that do not entail any rethinking or major changes.  Revision is essential if you want to put forth your best effort. As such, time management will play a large role in working through the writing process as you will need to allow substantial time for drafting, revising and editing for grammar and clarity.

Where Do You Start

Know your audience and understand the assignment. In most cases you are writing for your instructor, but that may feel intimidating. You may do well to imagine yourself writing for a group of peers who have some basic knowledge of the field but are unfamiliar with the specific topic or argument. Writing assignments can vary dramatically and can include but are not limited to argumentative papers, reflection essays, reaction papers, lab reports, blog posts or project proposals.  As a starting point, identify the verb(s) that your instructor uses in the prompt:  “compare”, “contrast”, “explain”, “reflect” are just a few common examples that are used to indicate the kind of thinking and writing you are supposed to do.

If your instructor provides a grading rubric with the assignment, use that to get you started.  The rubric will answer questions about their expectations. Does your instructor expect you to outline a clear thesis, use 5 outside resources, articulate various viewpoints and keep your paper to under five pages?  Then follow those guidelines in order to maximize points.

Formal Versus Informal Writing

Regardless of the writing assignment, all of your writing assignments should be crafted using formal language. Formal writing tends to include complex sentences, diverse and subject specific vocabulary and unless dictated by the assignment is written in the third person. When engaged in formal writing, you should avoid using contractions and slang.  Informal writing, on the other hand tends to include short, simple sentences, can be written in first or second person and tends to include more slang or colloquial language.

As a general rule, err on the side of more formal in all of your assignments and communication in the academic setting unless told otherwise.  Formal writing conveys respect for your audience.  And no matter what style of writing you are using–reread your work and check for typos or mistakes–this ensures that whatever you have to say can be understood.

Citations

1. Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: from Competence to Excellence. OER Commons. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/. CC BY 4.0.