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How does business writing differ from academic writing?
- Thread starter Tee
- Start date
Student writing = academic writing
"Please consider the following differences."
Prompt
Students write because their instructors require them to. Instructors create the assignments.
Business Writers write either at their own initiative or because someone in the organization expects them to write. Professionals often define their own tasks.
Purpose
Students write to learn and to demonstrate what they know.
Business Writers write to make things happen.
Audience
Students write for one person, their instructor.
Business Writers write for large and complex groups of people, various stakeholders inside and outside the organization with different needs and interests.
Genre
Students write exams, essays, journals, term papers, oral reports, etc.
Business Writers write memos, letters, proposals, reports, performance evaluations, business plans, marketing plans, audit reports, sales presentations, manuals, handbooks, contracts, etc.
Ownership
Students are graded individually and own their own writing.
Business Writers write for the company. The company owns the documents, which often include proprietary information.
Constraints
Students have as much time as they want to devote to an assignment. They can write alone, choose the environment within which they write, and largely say what they want to say.
Business Writers meet more urgent deadlines dictated by their employers and the needs of their companies. They often write on the job with many distractions and many constraints on what they can and cannot say.
Process
Students (too often) write an assignment alone at the final hour and deliver it to the instructor without showing their writing to anybody else.
Business Writers solicit feedback from others before publishing their documents.
Structure
Students write an introduction with a thesis, a body that substantiates the thesis, and a conclusion. They structure their writing according to the requirements of their topic, thesis, and instructor’s expectations.
Business Writers often write a table of contents, an executive summary, company descriptions, industry analyses, strategic plans, and recommendations. They structure their writing to build a case for action.
Content
Students include any points that help them develop their thesis.
Business Writers include only what their audiences need to know and omit the rest.
Design
Students follow the formatting requirements prescribed by their instructors, usually 1" margins all around, double-spaced, twelve-point font, with page numbers and a title. This creates a dense, blocky style with paragraph indentations.
Business Writers design their documents to be visually attractive and to allow their readers at least two ways of reading documents – quickly by scanning, or more slowly for details. They frequently incorporate much white space into their documents, make the structure of their documents visible by using headings and subheadings, and list information using bullet points. They also incorporate visual information such as graphs, charts, logos, and pictures into their documents.
Style
Students write complex sentences and lengthy paragraphs to develop the complexity of their ideas.
Business Writers typically write shorter, simpler sentences and include much less paragraph development if they use paragraphs at all.
Source Documentation
Students document information that they paraphrase or quote from outside sources using the conventions of the academic field within which they are writing, MLA, APA, etc.
Business Writers commonly paraphrase, quote, and boilerplate text from others within their same organizations without any documentation. When they paraphrase or quote outside sources, their documentation styles vary according to the conventions of their organization and the needs of their audiences.
Tone
Students establish a knowledgeable yet inquiring tone in their writing that shows they have gained a measure of control over their topic and thesis.
Business Writers establish a tone that best represents the ethos their company wants to project and that fits the expectations of their readers.
Product
For students, the essay or exam they write is the end product. It goes to the instructor. When instructors hand the assignment back, it goes either into a class folder that the student saves or into the trash. Copies often remain on computer disks until they are erased or the disk is lost or destroyed.
For business writers, the documents they produce are seldom a final product. Instead, documents are transformed into oral presentations, formal and informal meetings, overheads, reports, etc. Often other writers incorporate sections of one document into new documents, a process called boilerplating. Finally, business documents are often stored on electronic databases to produce a corporate memory.
"Please consider the following differences."
Prompt
Students write because their instructors require them to. Instructors create the assignments.
Business Writers write either at their own initiative or because someone in the organization expects them to write. Professionals often define their own tasks.
Purpose
Students write to learn and to demonstrate what they know.
Business Writers write to make things happen.
Audience
Students write for one person, their instructor.
Business Writers write for large and complex groups of people, various stakeholders inside and outside the organization with different needs and interests.
Genre
Students write exams, essays, journals, term papers, oral reports, etc.
Business Writers write memos, letters, proposals, reports, performance evaluations, business plans, marketing plans, audit reports, sales presentations, manuals, handbooks, contracts, etc.
Ownership
Students are graded individually and own their own writing.
Business Writers write for the company. The company owns the documents, which often include proprietary information.
Constraints
Students have as much time as they want to devote to an assignment. They can write alone, choose the environment within which they write, and largely say what they want to say.
Business Writers meet more urgent deadlines dictated by their employers and the needs of their companies. They often write on the job with many distractions and many constraints on what they can and cannot say.
Process
Students (too often) write an assignment alone at the final hour and deliver it to the instructor without showing their writing to anybody else.
Business Writers solicit feedback from others before publishing their documents.
Structure
Students write an introduction with a thesis, a body that substantiates the thesis, and a conclusion. They structure their writing according to the requirements of their topic, thesis, and instructor’s expectations.
Business Writers often write a table of contents, an executive summary, company descriptions, industry analyses, strategic plans, and recommendations. They structure their writing to build a case for action.
Content
Students include any points that help them develop their thesis.
Business Writers include only what their audiences need to know and omit the rest.
Design
Students follow the formatting requirements prescribed by their instructors, usually 1" margins all around, double-spaced, twelve-point font, with page numbers and a title. This creates a dense, blocky style with paragraph indentations.
Business Writers design their documents to be visually attractive and to allow their readers at least two ways of reading documents – quickly by scanning, or more slowly for details. They frequently incorporate much white space into their documents, make the structure of their documents visible by using headings and subheadings, and list information using bullet points. They also incorporate visual information such as graphs, charts, logos, and pictures into their documents.
Style
Students write complex sentences and lengthy paragraphs to develop the complexity of their ideas.
Business Writers typically write shorter, simpler sentences and include much less paragraph development if they use paragraphs at all.
Source Documentation
Students document information that they paraphrase or quote from outside sources using the conventions of the academic field within which they are writing, MLA, APA, etc.
Business Writers commonly paraphrase, quote, and boilerplate text from others within their same organizations without any documentation. When they paraphrase or quote outside sources, their documentation styles vary according to the conventions of their organization and the needs of their audiences.
Tone
Students establish a knowledgeable yet inquiring tone in their writing that shows they have gained a measure of control over their topic and thesis.
Business Writers establish a tone that best represents the ethos their company wants to project and that fits the expectations of their readers.
Product
For students, the essay or exam they write is the end product. It goes to the instructor. When instructors hand the assignment back, it goes either into a class folder that the student saves or into the trash. Copies often remain on computer disks until they are erased or the disk is lost or destroyed.
For business writers, the documents they produce are seldom a final product. Instead, documents are transformed into oral presentations, formal and informal meetings, overheads, reports, etc. Often other writers incorporate sections of one document into new documents, a process called boilerplating. Finally, business documents are often stored on electronic databases to produce a corporate memory.