When describing academic writing to a co-worker who is considering returning to
school to earn a degree I would tell them academic writing can be very intimidating,
especially for someone that may have taken a break from school but it is not that
much different that our professional writing. For me I would try to explain to them
that knowing your audience is important and to understand that writing something
for the classroom will be much more direct, less emotions and based on facts. For
myself, writing in the academic is about a clear message that can be supported by
evidence and facts to support my statement. This can be the same in the
professional world but maybe with a different tone. I would share with them that
although if may feel the same as our email correspondence, it is much more
structured and a cohesive. With that being said, I would make sure they understand
that anything you would find on social media. Typically that audience is much more
conversational and casual. I would continue to encourage them to further their
education regardless.
