by Jean Sidden

Created on: May 18, 2010

The differences between academic and creative writing are many though there are also similarities. Writing is writing and to say that one or the other of these genres is more valid is to negate a large body of excellent work. If you have experience in both creative and academic writing you know that each form has its place and its audience.

In academic writing the goal is to prove a thesis that is stated early in the work. Whether the piece is a dissertation, a paper or a fully realized book, the thesis is threaded throughout its entirety. The idea is to convince the reader that the author's thesis statement is a valid one.

In order to prove the thesis statement pre-existing source material is used to back up the author's logic. These sources are then cited within the body of the document and listed in bibliographical form at the end. The idea in academic writing is to make a worthy addition to an ongoing historical conversation about a topic. The conversation grows and becomes richer with each author's fresh ideas, which in turn stimulate new responses and ideas to be explored creating a dialogue through time.

Creative writing tells a story. Whether in prose or poetry, creative writing has a beginning, middle and end that takes the reader on a journey through the story the author is trying to tell. A creative writing work will follow a course through exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement, or resolution. This structure helps keep the reader engaged throughout the entire story.

Creative writing is more the realm of escape and entertainment for the reader. If a work is not entertaining and compelling the reader might very well put it down and move on to something else.  It becomes very important for authors to develop style and craft that will take the reader into their world and hold them there for the entire journey.

A creative writing work does not need to use outside source material but it could. Historical fiction as a genre is drawing on actual events so research is part of the author's process. Acknowledgements should be made to cite sources just as they would be in the case of an academic work if they are used.

There is really no reason to qualify one genre as better or worse than the other. An academic work will be written and read by the audience that is interested in the subject matter. Creative writing will pull its own audience. Both genres share audiences and enrich their reading experience by having that shared knowledge.

Academic writing can be highly creative in its approach, with ideas that are presented in a fascinating and engaging way. Creative writing can be so well researched and factual that it is a learning experience as well as entertainment. There is much to recommend both types of writing as a path to expand knowledge and simply enjoy the activity of reading.

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