Academic Writing What Is It And How Successful A Writer...

Academic Writing: What is it and How Successful a Writer Am I? When it comes to writing, many would say that there are two distinct â€Å"camps†: those who like to write, and those who do not. It is not unusual to find many members of the former group exploring this enjoyment through the domain of creative writing. Further, creative writing allows for a great deal of free reign. This field of writing allows the writer an all-access pass to self-expression. What is more, creative writing often affords the writer - and the writer, alone - complete governance over the writing process. In other words, creative writers get to make the rules. Whether the task at hand is composing a poem, a short story, or even a no holds barred†¦show more content†¦In fact, acquiring strong, effective academic writing skills can benefit students in the long-run, well beyond their college years. Academic writing requires some structured rule abiding, yes, but there is also something to be said for learning discipline. In sum, academic writing r equires the following: focused, concise writing; clear knowledge of the writer’s audience; sincere understanding of the topic/message being addressed; correct sentence structure/organization, punctuation, and grammar; and, of course, the writer’s personal conviction. If one does not believe in their ability to convey a certain message - or if one is wishy-washy on the topic itself - how can one’s audience truly embrace that moment? Being resolute is of supreme importance with academic writing. To begin, a very important element to academic writing is the ability to be concise and clear on the subject/theme. A writing piece need not be exhaustive in volume. Many successful pieces of writing are â€Å"to the point† and of modest length; this does not mean that the pieces are lacking in content or adequate detail. It is important to note that readers can quickly lose interest, grow bored, or even become intimidated if a piece is too lengthy (information overload!). This is largely contingent on subject matter (think: highly scientific, or a paper that extends beyond â€Å"lay† knowledge). Thus, learning to cultivate rhetoric that covers all the proverbial