It might not even occur to many people that writing for a blog and assignments are two different things. Take an example –
Considering that you are a college student, imagine that you got an essay for your assignment. The deadline is afar, and you have a lot of time to shape your ideas. You need a paper written in a way that completely stands out. For that, you have done solid research on popular websites. You combine all the important information and write it down comprehensively by following the well-structured writing style of those blogs. Yet, with appropriate details, correct grammar, and fine sentences, you still didn’t manage to get an A. Why so?
As a student, you should be able to distinguish the traits between blog writing and academic writing. Blogging is for a general audience, and the latter is for a specific audience that includes your professors and other students. Let us be more transparent.
Academic Writing
These are more like scientific papers where you don’t just express your ideas, but also investigate facts, identify the problems, come up with a valid argument, and justify it with a counterargument. It is completely based on evidence and reasoning, and reflects your academic knowledge and skills. There are even particular writing formats like APA, MLA, Harvard format, Chicago Style, etc. that you can find the reference in any custom essay sites.
Blog Writing
The only motive for writing a blog is to deliver your personal thoughts and ideas to your audience irrespective of the genre. It focuses on the interest of the readers and hopes to create a buzz with engaging content. A blog has a diverse approach to educating others about a certain brand, program, entertainment topic, or political and social issues. According to a study by https://managementpaper.com/, blogging was initially started following the style of a diary entry. But, soon enough it was adapted by various websites as a means to communicate about their businesses.
Recognizing the Differences
- Language
Academic writing has a more formal tone of addressing, while blogs have a mix of both formal and informal approach.
- Tone
The narrative in an academic piece has an argumentative tone and mirrors confidence. On the other hand, blogs are more social and communicative.
- Citation
You have to cite all the resources of information at the end of an essay, dissertation, or research paper, which is not a compulsive requirement in blogs.
- Audience
Academic papers are for academic readers and scholars, whereas the target audience of blogs is general public with common grounds of interest.
- Dictions
The use of words and phrases in college assignments is complex. Blogs contain terms that are easy to understand by everyone.
- Images and Visuals
Blogs contain attractive visual images, gifs, or videos that are relevant to the content to enhance the learning and make it more engaging. Definitely, it is not the same for academic writing, unless the images are statistical graphs. But again, slide presentations have different characteristics.
- Complexity
Academic writing involves critical thinking and requires analytical skills. Blogs are more subjective than objective. It involves creativity and personal preferences.
- Pattern
Blogs are SEO friendly, meaning it contains keywords and backlinks to make their position on the first page of the search engine. Academic writings are academic friendly that ascertain your curriculum knowledge.
Conclusion
The common points between the two are the grammatical part, accurate use of punctuations, and conveying of certain information. Other than these, every aspect is poles apart. The only way to master them both is to read multiple academic writings and blog posts pretty often, which will give you the ability to identify the points of distinction. Practice your reading and writing skills.