ICRN #1: Professional and Technical Writing

2/12/2021

Technical & Professional writing jobs are probably one of those career paths that you don't ever think about until you are at a certain place in life--because it's not like being a doctor or lawyer or teacher or fireman. No kid grows up saying, yeah, I want to write directions for a living. But technical and professional writing can be fun--no, I'm serious. It's a kind of nitty-gritty writing that makes change in the world. And that's pretty cool. It's a huge and varied field from the very technical (instructions on how to shut down a nuclear reactor) to the very whimsical (how to keep turkey's from attacking you). My point is, it's something to think about.

FOR TODAY'S ICRN, respond to this question: In what ways is "professional" or "technical" writing different from what I would call "student writing"--or writing for school? In what ways do you see it as similar? Finally, what can you take with you from "school writing" to "professional" settings?

15 Comments

Kate Bazarsky

2/12/2021 09:50:02 am

My first thought is that technical writing has to be precise and readable. When you are 'student writing' you have less constraints around the writing process, which allows for a lot of creative freedom. The biggest difference is the purpose of each kind of writing. Technical writing strives to give people digestible information while 'student writing' does not always have a purpose. However, using diction from student writing and creative metaphors could help in the technical field to get people to understand what you are saying.

Emily Spagna

2/12/2021 09:52:44 am

"Professional" or "technical" writing is different from what we consider student writing because it gets right to the point and serves a specific purpose. Technical writing can be directions to something or infomation on how to keep bears away from your campsite, it's typically direct and gives you the important information quickly. Student writing is more drawn out. We take our time explaining out every little detail and give reason for everything we say. The major points are often found throughout student writing, and then repeated in the closing.
These kinds of writing are similar because you're still writing with a purpose. There is a specific goal set. There's a specific topic you're explaining, and set facts that need to be brought up.

Michael Wood

2/12/2021 09:53:05 am

I find that professional writing is held to a much higher standard due to its appeal and structure. Student writing is often looked at in a more forgiving manner and is often open for freedom whereas professional documents are much more restricted. Some similarities include the voice the writer uses and some of their habits when forming sentence structure. I feel that the education from student writing in school is more important as it allows a great deal of feedback whereas job settings do not offer much in the way of discussion. Being open to criticism in a classroom setting is a good way of understanding ways to improve when the professor allows it. I have had professors that choose to not allow it which in turn feels unhelpful as one would rather have feedback that is constructive rather than endless praise.

Brittany Ann Oppenheimer

2/12/2021 09:53:24 am

I feel like profession or technical writing is heavily more "work/job" related, if that makes any sense. With school, I feel like writing is more experimental and board where you have the time to try new things to see what works for you with your writing. When you are professionally writing, you are pretty much stuck writing this "one way" for a really long time. At least, over time, a writer will be able to get good with this one thing if they do it for a long time, which I feel is a benefit from this. At the same time, professional writing does not allow you to experiment or try something new if your job requests you to always write a specific way. It's also similar do to the idea that it is just another "way" of writing. It falls into that category, even if the way you are writing is different. Finally, school writing allows a writer to grow and start to learn how to type something professional. Even though technical writing might not be what the writer wants to go into, the practice of technical and other forms of writing from school still helps the writer grow and learn techniques that will help them in the future.

Rebecca M.

2/12/2021 09:53:28 am

"Professional" writing is writing that is for an audience who do not know much about the topic at hand and are looking for more information. "Technical" writing is writing that is meant to guide the general audience about how to use a certain or use that information. Ways that professional and technical writing are similar is both of them are meant to teach the audience something. With school writing to professional writing is the formatting, sentence structure, research skills, etc. because the same rules apply no matter what type of writing you are doing. It will be written a little differently but it is still information that you are bringing out to an audience. The language may vary because of that audience but it is still important to maintain a poise, concrete, and conceptual ideas within both types of writing.

Ron Corbett

2/12/2021 09:53:46 am

I always felt that technical writing was more for instructions or for describing a way in which to do something. Like instructions to set up a computer or what kind of oil from your car by reading the manual. School writing, a student may learn how to technical write and may find it enjoyable.

Matt McGuirk

2/12/2021 09:54:45 am

I think the rhetorical situation and audience are two factors that differentiate professional writing from student writing. Academic writing is geared toward a specific audience and is written academically (i.e., long sentences and long paragraphs). Professional writing, on the other hand, is transactional. The audience usually needs to do something to respond to your writing. Another difference is the writing itself. Academic writing can use flowery language to convey multiple thoughts and ideas while professional writing is short and to the point. That said, there is also a similarity between the two when it comes to syntax. All types of writing must follow the rules of writing: spelling, grammar, all that stuff. Once you start breaking rules, you break comprehension. One thing I could take from school writing to professional writing is the audience factor. I've written so many different pieces throughout college; I've done technical writing, academic writing, and creative writing. With each piece, I am writing for a different audience. Learning that skill will help me down the road because for whatever job I have, I'll have a specific audience to write for. .

The reading we did called "Technical Writing Prose Style" really did a nice job explaining the two styles of writing.

Marissa Merlino

2/12/2021 09:54:57 am

Student writing is done for a very specific audience. Usually, the student is writing with a certain instructor's expectations in mind, meaning everything from their paragraphs to their sentence structure to their diction is mainly catered to one person's preferences. They could also be writing with their peers in mind and including what they know will impress them or what they will be able to understand. Professional/technical writing is done for a much broader audience. You may not even necessarily be aware of who will be reading your writing and how high their comprehension skills are. This means that the writing must be simplified or written in plain language with no excessive content or flowery language. Most of the time, people do not seek to read professional/technical writing for their own enjoyment. They are doing it because they have to learn something specific, such as a skill or a process, and they do not want to spend more time reading it than they have to. This means the professional writer has to bear in mind the value of their audience's time and make the most of it, ensuring that they are able to understand all the necessary information in a small amount of text. Both professional and student writing should be clear and concise. Both types of writing also must consider their audience

Maddie Staples

2/12/2021 09:54:58 am

I think that the biggest difference between technical writing and academic writing is that technical writing is meant to be used for a specific purpose. Technical writing stresses accessibility and usability; the writing is a transactional relationship between the writer and the user and the goal is to make that transaction go as smoothly and effectively as possible. Academic writing, as we know, is typically meant for a more specific audience (in school, the "teacher as an examiner"). We generally expect that academic readers are somewhat knowledgeable in the subject and are reading to read--to better themselves, to learn more about a subject--rather than reading to do something else.
However, there are many similarities between writing in a professional context and writing in an academic context. Both formats stress some level of concision, clarity, flow, and organization, as well as obviously requiring correct grammar and mechanics. Both audiences expect the writer to be truthful and ethical in the information they present as well as the way that they present it. The discussion of kairos was of particular interest to me, and I thought of ways writers typically employ that in academic writing. I think a lot of essay conclusions mirror the "call to action," whether that be offering areas for further research or explaining the applicability of the argument in a broader context.
There are several things that we can take from "school writing" and apply to professional writing. Concision and clarity are both big ones--the way we use words to express ideas and the way we organize them to get our point across most effectively. Understanding audience is also a big one. As the article mentioned, students get very adept at writing for their teacher, and it is helpful to take that skill of targeting our text and apply it to a technical audience.

Lynne Campbell

2/12/2021 09:55:32 am

For me, I think it's easy to not realize the work that goes into professional writing such as writing instructions and things like that. I think writing like that can be easily taken for granted and yet we would not be able to do a lot of things in writers didn't put in the time to create such things. When compared to school writing, they both need an ample amount of research to be able to get their point or information across. When a student writes an essay, they are trying to inform or persuade the reader on whatever topic the essay is about. The student has to make sure the language they are using is simple yet engaging enough to hold the reader's attention. Technical or professional writing can be very similar. If a writer is writing an instruction manual on a vacuum, they need to be aware of the type of language they are using. They need to make sure readers will keep reading so they can learn as much as they can about the product.

John Walden

2/12/2021 09:56:00 am

Writing for school and writing in a professional setting are two very different experiences. When writing for school, there is a lot of emphasis placed on a specific factor of each piece depending on the class and audience. For example, when writing an Economics paper, my professors have always emphasized the content of the piece as being more important than how the writing is structured or proper grammar. In lower level English and writing classes, I’ve found the inverse to be true, as English professors want to make sure that students focus on how they are writing and structuring their work more so than the content. Professional writing, on the other hand, gives equal weight to both the content and the structure.

CJ Hall

2/12/2021 09:56:48 am

There are so many ways that technical/professional writing differ from academic writing: audience, prose style, formatting, use of visual language, whether or not something is concise, point of view, organization, sentence style, content attributes, channel and medium. In short: a writer is solving a problem and considered the expert in t/p writing and is being evaluated for understanding in academic writing. The audience of a tech writer is seeking to understand something themselves. I also found it interesting that the expectation of something being read beginning to end that is the norm in academic writing is something that can interrupt or be irritating in the consumer's day. I also liked the distinction of editing and proofreading not just for errors but to remove the sources of potential confusion in tech writing.

I think that we are prepped in college to be successful as tech writers but lack the experience of being allowed creativity and design freedom. It would be beneficial for more professors to allow at least one project a semester to break MLA, APA or science writitng formats so we can practice playing with design elements as well.

Derek Krysko

2/12/2021 09:56:49 am

I think the biggest difference between professional and “school” writing is the purpose, or intended audience. Academic writing is generally designed for a student to showcase their proficiency with a particular topic in order to please their instructor. Student writing in most cases does not have a larger purpose, and it is often rather self-contained. The purpose of professional writing can vary greatly, but it is usually geared towards achieving a specific goal, like persuading or influencing someone of something, or explaining how something works. Student writings tend to be written to a single professor, or a small group of students that are all working on the same or a similar assignment, whereas professional writing can be written for a much broader audience group. It can be geared towards colleagues, other business people, potential customers, or just the general uninformed public. I also think that the tone changes depending on the writing style as well, because academic writing usually forces students to write in a very controlled style in order to conform to the rubric or assignment. Professional writing would seem to have more flexibility, because there is a wider range of purposes and audiences. Some professional writing can be incredibly strict and written in a regimented way, but it can also be looser and more relaxed, depending on the various circumstances of why this piece is being written. I think we can take the attention to detail required in school writings to professional scenes, as well as our reliance on proper formatting. We learn in school that format and organization are key to success, and I think that will absolutely help us in the professional environment. Both forms of writing are always written with a specific purpose in mind, and school writing helps us to learn how to take a single topic and disseminate key info and turn it into a clear and concise narrative.

Amanda Guindon

2/12/2021 09:58:12 am

I feel like student writing involves a lot more explaining and justifying of claims than what would be present in professional writing. A lot of the time, when you are writing for school, you are being asked to answer a question of some sort and you are demonstrating to the teacher that you know what you are talking about. Obviously, if you have made it to the professional writing field, people know that you know what you’re talking about. You don’t need to over explain yourself like what is commonly done in student writing. In school writing, there is bound to be a lot of “fluff” content, or basically information that is semi-relevant to contextualize what you are saying. In professional writing, there is most likely less fluff writing and more succinct writing as that is more what people are looking for.
These two types of writing are similar in the sense that you are conveying some sort of message or meaning to the reader. A teacher reading an essay for understanding from the student could be a similar concept to someone reading an owner’s manual.
One of the main things that can be taken from school writing to professional writing is the critical thinking skills.

Paige Couture

2/12/2021 10:00:49 am

I believe that professional or technical writing is different than “student writing” in many ways. The first being that professional writing could be done in somebody’s spare time. By professional writing, I mean writing that is written outside of school. This could be anything from novel manuscripts, non-fiction poetry, and creative writing. I also believe that professional writing includes something that is being published. This could be either publishing it on the internet or into a book. On the other hand, student writing could also be considered “published” when work is submitted onto blackboard or a class website. Once a professor has graded it, anything can be considered professional… since it is in our own words. Technical writing uses more visuals. It does not repeat certain topics and drops longer bullets. When we are writing outside of college, we are sitting down for an amount of time in our choosing. When it comes to student writing, students are given limited time to write. Especially when it comes to essays. Sometimes essays are due in a week, and some students may need more time. In addition, student essays can have really long body paragraphs. Sometimes, these paragraphs can be about 500 words in length. In a novel, 500 word is equal to two pages, since there are 250 words per page. I believe that professional and student writing are similar because any kind of material needs to be edited to consider it professional. Anything that is written down is considered professional, even if it is edited or not.

ICRN #1: Professional and Technical Writing

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