If i had to explain what academic writing to someone who may be considering a
return to school and further explain to them how it differed from their daily
exposures to writing; I would highlight how academic writing requires factual
information and rarely uses opinions (other than a thesis). Most writing people use in
their day to day lives is very casual and informal compared to a paper you would
write within an academic setting. Daily writing usually consists of questions, opinion
delivery, or informal banter, much of this is not appropriate in academic writing
because your product is graded and held to a standard. This standard is how your
performance and success is gauged by the university. In addition, when you are
giving credit for your source of information it was to be a legitimate source, which
again is different from daily writing. However, academic and writing in an
employment setting do share similarities in the fact that what is place on paper is
how you build your brand within the office or university.
