Writing for academic purposes is very different to writing for other reasons, such as for business or personally.  If you want to succeed well on an academic course, whether at school, University, or by distance learning, it is key for you to understand just how you should be writing your coursework. Not doing so will almost certainly damage your chances of attaining the grade you deserve for your hard study.

So what’s the Secret? 

If there’s one simple thing you have to remember when writing academically, it is to come at it with an impartial view.  By impartial we mean that you must convey your finding and evidence in a manner that does not appear to be biased in favour of a particular view point.  Lets consider the following question: 

What is more popular: Cake or Pie?

At first thought, such a question does appear to be just a matter of opinion.  After all, it’s really a matter of personal choice whether cake, or pie is preferred.   Nevertheless, when writing academically about such a topic, you are compelled to take a neutral view in this.  The best way to do this is by providing data and evidence to back up your views. 

You might conduct research for yourself, or use the research of others.  Hence instead of saying “Cake is more popular because it is more delicious and moist” (a largely personal opinion) you might lend more weight to your claim by providing results of research that says instead:  “67 % of 1000 people surveyed preferred cake when asked”.

Avoiding Emotive Dialogue

Now it’s true that a cake or pie question is, strictly speaking, relatively trivial.  But the fundamentals for writing academically are the same whether you are talking about desserts, international politics or cutting edge scientific theories.  You must remain impartial in presenting the argument and make it with facts rather than resorting to rhetoric. 

There are effectively two types of arguments you can make about a subject.  Academic writing thus requires a logical view; effectively: These are the facts, and this is the conclusion I draw from them.  The alternative is an emotional argument which generally relies more on influencing the feelings and prejudices of a reader rather than making a strong logical case.  Politicians the world over are particularly keen to favour heart over head dialogue when pitching their cases to their electorate. 

While it can be tempting to do this, and arguably makes for more interesting writing in many cases, academic writers must resist the urge to use poetic and flowery language when making their points lest they be thought to be shifting their biases in one direction or another. 

So in short, if you want to write well academically, learn to be like Mr Spock – if it is illogical it does not go in the essay. 

Unless of course the point is to show how a viewpoint is illogical…