Notes on Academic Writing

My degree is in literature. I don't use that a whole lot in my regular job, but it did give me a pretty good grounding for understanding writing and the writing process in a practical sense. I had to do a lot of academic writing after all. I also worked as a writing tutor while I was at the University, helping fellow students with their papers for classes. I learned a lot from that about the assumptions students have and how much actually sinks in. During that time and since I have occasionally caught myself pondering the writing process. So, here are some thoughts on academic writing from a guy who spent a lot of time staring at it.

First thing to consider about academic writing, the first and most important principle to understand is something of a mantra: "No one cares what you think." It's a bit harsh, I know, but this is important. A lot of new students just don't get the difference between writing down their opinion (like what I'm doing here) and constructing a solid academic paper based on research. So, I tell people to keep in mind the principle "no one cares what you think." No one wants to hear your opinion on the Reformation when you are College Freshman, really, even if they ask for it they don't want to hear it. The point of your classes is not to share what your opinion is, it's to learn what the prevailing opinions and data are. That's why you're there. To learn from the professor and your own research. So, when writing an academic paper, keep in mind "no one cares what you think." This will save you a lot of strain in writing a nice thoughtful opinion paper, when what the professor wants is a paper with research and cited sources and quotes and all that other good stuff that is not your opinion. Once you have letters after your name and a diploma on the wall and have spent years doing research, then they will care what you think. Today, though, they don't want to hear it.