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Subject: Academic vs. technical writing
From: Chaim Chatan
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 16:29:29 +0200
Since there is a discussion of the differences between academic writing and
technical writing, let me give you the perspective of someone who has done
both. There are very important differences between academic and technical
writing. One must also realize that there are also different types of
academic writing and different types of technical writing.
First of all, the purposes and audiences are different between academic and
technical writing. The purposes of academic writing can be: 1) to present
the results of one's knowledge, 2) to present the results gained from one's
personal research, and 3) to present one's point of view. Of course, both
technical and academic writing is laden with jargon, but the jargon is used
for different purposes. As far as technical writing is concerned, the
purposes of technical writing can be: 1) to teach someone how to use a
specific product or service; and 2) to describe the procedures that are
employed by companies for carrying out various tasks.
The audiences are completely different. The academic is writing to fellow
scholars, and often, depending on the journal or publication, to the
general public. The technical writer is writing to the user of the product
or the service, or to government inspectors who need to see how the company
carries out certain tasks. Users, of course, differ from product to
product. In addition, technical writing differs from area to area. For
example, writing documentation for software is different from writing
documentation for hardware.
When I took a technical writing course as part of my professional
retraining, I had to unlearn a lot of what I had been doing as an academic
writer. We are dealing with different styles of writing altogether. Also,
there is good and bad academic and technical writing, and a good academic
writer may not become a good technical writer and vice versa. I have seen
downright awful academic writing, where the author wrote extremely unclear
and obscure prose, and I have seen extremely garbled technical writing,
where it was difficult to follow the instructions.
The important variable here is teachability. If an academic writer who
wants to become a technical writer is not teachable, especially coming from
the academic and liberal arts world, he/she will not be a good technical
writer. Good academic writing is not enough--teachability is the most
important factor. One of the most important tasks of interviewers of
candidates for technical writing jobs, especially candidates who have not
had professional experience, is not just simply to look at the writing
samples of the candidates, but to assess how teachable they are. If the
candidate has both academic and technical writing samples, the interviewer
should be able to assess whether the candidate has grasped the differences
between the two types of writing. This is one way to measure teachability.
A bit of advice for academics who want to go into technical writing is to
peruse all the various types of manuals and documentation written by
technical writers to get a sense of what is involved in technical writing.
What else can I help you with?
Difference between technical writing and composition writing?
The difference between technical writing and composition writing is that the technical writing deals with writing off on the basis of rules that must be thoroughly proofread, while composition writing deals with writing from your imagination, with no guidelines or rules.
What is the difference between creative writing and technical writing?
Dr. Shoaib ashraf jatt apni kitab "MAIN OR MERY SHARARTI TAJURBY" men likhty hen k Mere khyal k mutabiq "The difference between creative writing and technical writing is that creative writing deals with writing from your imagination, with no guidlines or rules, while technical writing deals with writing off a basis of rules that must be thoroughly proofread.
What is difference between technical writing and documentation?
If both cover the same subject, there is no difference. In the software industry, the terms are interchangeable.
What are the similarities between technical writing and non technical writing?
non technical writing are not techincaly real writing
Elements of technical writing?
abc's of technical writing
Difference between technical writing and composition writing?
The difference between technical writing and composition writing is that the technical writing deals with writing off on the basis of rules that must be thoroughly proofread, while composition writing deals with writing from your imagination, with no guidelines or rules.
How is technical and scientific writing differs to academic writing?
It has an objectivity.
What is the difference between technical writing and academic writing?
Technical Writing vs. Academic WritingSince there is a discussion of the differences between academic writing and technical writing, let me give you the perspective of someone who has done both. There are very important differences between academic and technical writing. One must also realize that there are also different types of academic writing and different types of technical writing.First of all, the purposes and audiences are different between academic and technical writing. The purposes of academic writing can be: 1) to present the results of one's knowledge, 2) to present the results gained from one's personal research, and 3) to present one's point of view. Of course, both technical and academic writing is laden with jargon, but the jargon is usedfor different purposes. As far as technical writing is concerned, the purposes of technical writing can be: 1) to teach someone how to use a specific product or service; and 2) to describe the procedures that are employed by companies for carrying out various tasks.The audiences are completely different. The academic is writing to fellow scholars, and often, depending on the journal or publication, to the general public. The technical writer is writing to the user of the product or the service, or to government inspectors who need to see how the company carries out certain tasks. Users, of course, differ from product to product. In addition, technical writing differs from area to area. Forexample, writing documentation for software is different from writing documentation for hardware.When I took a technical writing course as part of my professional retraining, I had to unlearn a lot of what I had been doing as an academic writer. We are dealing with different styles of writing altogether. Also, there is good and bad academic and technical writing, and a good academicwriter may not become a good technical writer and vice versa. I have seen downright awful academic writing, where the author wrote extremely unclear and obscure prose, and I have seen extremely garbled technical writing, where it was difficult to follow the instructions.The important variable here is teachability. If an academic writer who wants to become a technical writer is not teachable, especially coming from the academic and liberal arts world, he/she will not be a good technical writer. Good academic writing is not enough - teachability is the most important factor. One of the most important tasks of interviewers of candidates for technical writing jobs, especially candidates who have nothad professional experience, is not just simply to look at the writing samples of the candidates, but to assess how teachable they are. If the candidate has both academic and technical writing samples, the interviewer should be able to assess whether the candidate has grasped the differences between the two types of writing. This is one way to measure teachability.A bit of advice for academics who want to go into technical writing is to peruse all the various types of manuals and documentation written by technical writers to get a sense of what is involved in technical writing.
Could you combine academic writing and technical writing in a research paper?
yes
What is the difference between creative writing and technical writing?
Dr. Shoaib ashraf jatt apni kitab "MAIN OR MERY SHARARTI TAJURBY" men likhty hen k Mere khyal k mutabiq "The difference between creative writing and technical writing is that creative writing deals with writing from your imagination, with no guidlines or rules, while technical writing deals with writing off a basis of rules that must be thoroughly proofread.
What is difference between technical writing and documentation?
If both cover the same subject, there is no difference. In the software industry, the terms are interchangeable.
What are the similarities between technical writing and non technical writing?
non technical writing are not techincaly real writing
What is the difference between an introduction and a literature review in academic writing?
An introduction in academic writing provides an overview of the topic and sets the stage for the research, while a literature review summarizes and evaluates existing research on the topic.
What is the difference between citation and bibliography in academic writing?
In academic writing, a citation is a reference to a specific source within the text, while a bibliography is a list of all the sources used in the research, placed at the end of the document.
What is the difference between business writing and technical writing?
I'll readily discover some overlap between technical writing and business writing, the two have many distinct differences, both in terms of subject matter and document format, whereas commerce and the business community govern the subject matter of business writing, technical writing deals primarily with the hard sciences and industial community. the primary documents of business writing are letters, memorandas and business reports, the primary documents of technical writing are technical reports, manuals and instructions. By.Yassein Hassan.
What is the difference between language and technical writing?
The basic difference between language and technical writing is that in language we have the scope to add glossary,imaginary views for enriching the quality of the language. On the contrary, in technical writing, we are to limit ourselves within the technical datas,analysis etc. and there is no scope for superfluous description and/or narration for enhancing the quality of the writing.
What is the difference between writing in academic and professional voice?
The major difference between academic writing and professional writing is arrangement. When writing an academic paper there is very important and steps to follow. Tone is very important in Professional writing. Through work experience, one must have a method about academic writing. There is a higher standard of comprehension when writing academic works. Professional writing and academic writing are the same in that they both are structured to please a certain audience. In some ways academic writing can be more poetic and make one think in different ways. There are some aspects of this in academic writing, but on a different level. Thoughts are made through a trained and practiced manner. This is key when, such as, talking to your boss at work.
