White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience

Jon Swigert

December 1, 2017

Ohio State University

 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 1

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT................................................................................................ 2

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 3

BACKGROUND........................................................................................ 3

PROPOSED SOLUTION.......................................................................... 5

CONCLUSION.......................................................................................... 7

WORKS CITED........................................................................................ 8
 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 2

ABSTRACT

This white paper explores a workplace issue for a communication specialist who writes

for an academic audience. The issue is knowing what writing methods to use and compares

different exigencies that a specialist should implement for effective writing. This white paper

emphasizes the background and solutions to the workplace problem and considers three methods

to use for academic writing. The methods are style, personal strategy, and flow of rhetoric.

Implementing style, personal strategy, and flow will help solve the workplace issue. The goal of

this paper is for the communication specialist to implement these strategic initiatives to meet

their audiences expectations for future writing projects.

 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 3

INTRODUCTION

Communication Specialists at the Ohio State University are expected to cater their

writing around a specific audience, the faculty. Each genre of writing can fluctuate between

multiple mediums, platforms, and styles. This is can be a difficult task for the English

Department Communication Specialists. Writing at a professional level can be a challenge

considering the level of skill, knowledge, and understanding of their colleagues. What writing

methods should be used when writing to an academic audience? There are many methods to

consider; however, I will focus on three methods that should be implemented in academic style

writing. The methods are style, personal strategy, and flow of rhetoric.

BACKGROUND

Common workplace issues at universities are knowing what methods to use when

developing content for a department, especially an English Department. These workplace issues

are due to the high level of education, knowledge, and understanding that goes into the areas of

rhetoric. Areas of writing that require attention for the communication specialist is writing style,

personal strategy, and the flow of rhetoric.

Writing style can change day to day for the Ohio State University English Department

Communication Specialist. Breanne LeJeune, a Communication Specialist at the Ohio State

University said, I do not have a lot of repetition in my job. It is really project specific. I do a lot

of promoting of events, posters, emails, and web writing (LeJeune). This means style will

change between the different platforms for writing. LeJeune continued, Sometimes my writing
 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 4

is funky and spunky while others are straight forward and information-centric. It all depends

on who I am writing for and how many times I have emailed them that week. Style for the

communication specialist is beyond writing an informational email, it requires a visual

component too. LeJeune says, Switching over to web writing needs more consideration for the

audiences I am writing to for my department. This means elegant, creative, sophisticated writing

while being simple and as clear as possible. Creating different writing platforms can be a

difficult task. Web writing burdens the writer to construct information that is engaging and

aesthetic appealing. Being aesthetically appealing is important because the audience should not

be distracted or uninterested from the writing style.

Developing a personalize writing strategy is another method for the communication

specials. Developing a strategy can vary from studying other writing literature to watching a

professional tutorial online. LeJeune says, I research corporate styles because they employ

teams and have resources to trial a lot more than an academic field (LeJeune). Although this is a

good starting point, this limits the scope of influence that can potentially influence their target

audiences. John Swales argues, If the audience knows more than the writer, the writers purpose

is usually to display familiarity, expertise, and intelligence (Swales 6). Having a personalized

strategy can help persuade an academic audience. Having too narrow of a strategy can have a

negative impact on the overall writing for the specialist.

The last area of attention is the writing flow for the communication specialist. The ability

to have sections smoothly flow together can be the difference for effective writing. There are

hundreds of professors in the English Department at the Ohio State University who will read the

communication specialist writing. If the writings flow is off, then the audience will be confused.

LeJeune says, This is a remarkable amount of pressure on the writing aspect of the jobif you
 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 5

mess up, world renown experts in the field will know. Having a consistent flow will be

something to consider for this target audience.

There are a few considerations that will follow in the proposed solutions section for each

method.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Communication specialists need a flexible and effective approach to writing in a busy,

multi-platform job. This section is dedicated for proposed solutions when writing for an

academic audience. Solutions will focus on methods on how to write effectively in style,

personal strategy, and flow of rhetoric.

Style does not need to be a broad concept when writing for an academic audience. It can

differentiate on multiple platforms and purposes. John Swales suggest, Academic style is not

used in all academic settingswords and phrases like stuff, things, a bit, bunch, or a whole lot

of, which we would not expect to find in a written academic text. They may also use elaborate

metaphors and other vivid expressions to enliven their speaking style (Swales 15). Informal

language is a potential route for the creative writing in the department. The association of

common phrases and expressions that expand on a thought or important event can meet the

audiences expectations. Although using informal language is one style out of many.

Style can also be affected by grammar rules and structures endorsed by the university.

Although grammar rules can be problematic, John Swales offers a practical mindset to adapt

when writing to an academic audience. Swales argues, Academic writing is in fact poorly

understood by teachers and students alike(your) purpose here is for you to think more about
 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 6

your stylistic choices as you write and to help you realize that good academic writers make many

stylistic choices as they write (Swales 17).

Personal strategy is another method that is important when writing to an academic

audience. Personal strategy means developing a workflow that works best for the specialist

versus a fixed system approach. The more questions a specialist can ask, the more likely they

will successfully meet the audiences expectations. Sometimes figuring out those questions are

tedious and cloudy for the specialist. Swales offers a few introspective questions when

developing a strategy. Swales argues, What is your main writing strategy? Why do you use it?

What one other strategy apart from those on the list do you use? Are your strategies dependent

on the type of text you are composing (Swales 3)? Using questions to develop a personal

strategy is a great way to increase effective writing. Having a personal strategy decreases the

likelihood of writers block.

Flow is important when writing to multiple faculties in the English Department. Flow

will keep the whole department on the same page because you are keeping the audience engage

with your writing. Connecting ideas in a consistent way can be difficult for the communication

specialist due to writers block and quick deadlines. Flow does not necessarily suggest writing

logical premises that connect one large concept to an overarching purpose. John Swales suggests,

Placing relevant old information in early position establishes a content connection backward

and provides a forward content link that establishes the context (Swales 32). Repetitive

language does not mean it is improper to use. Such repetition can increase the likelihood of

remembering information and that the flow will be clearer to the academic audience.

Implementing these methods should take weeks to master, especially with the wealth of

faculty surrounding the specialist. The suggestions are free and require no writing seminars to
 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 7

attend; although, this could be a potential route to take on further equipping. Adapting these

methods will help the specialist to manage deadlines and meet the expectations of the academic

audience.

CONCLUSION

Communication specialists can effectively write for academic audiences by adopting

these methods. This includes writing effectively for different platforms as well. Although this

paper does not address all the methods in academic writing, this list does suffice and offers a

strong foundation. I encourage any communication specialist who wants to write effectually for

their department to consider the loss of not adopting these methods. What specialist can afford to

miss out on free, effective writing methods?

 White Paper: Writing Methods for an Academic Audience 8

Works Cited

LeJeune, Breanne. Personal interview. 22 September 2017.

Swales, John M, and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential

Tasks and Skills. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2004. Print.