Academic Writing vs. Creative Writing: What’s the Difference?

Want to know the difference between academic and creative writing? There are multiple types of writing; academic and creative writings are a few. If you are a writer or willing to be, you might be confused about academic writing vs. creative writing.

 

The fundamental difference between academic and creative writing is that academic writing is formal in nature, whereas creative is informal. 

Read this article to understand the difference between these two. 

What is Academic Writing?

Academic writing is a kind of formal writing that contains fact-based information. While writing an academic write-up, you must keep the tone formal and back the stats or information you add with credible sources. 

Mainly, educational institutions ask their students to create writing assignments in a given format. 

Read: Content Writing vs Copywriting

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is informal and personal writing. It does not require any set of writing guidelines to be followed. Moreover, you don’t generally require to add references to back the information you provide in your write-up. 

Some examples of creative writing are poems, stories, personal experiences, opinions, and journals. 

Read: What is SEO Writing?

Academic Writing vs. Creative Writing: What’s the Difference?

Below I have shared the major difference between creative and academic writing.

 

Difference	Academic Writing	Creative Writing
Tone	It needs to be written in a formal writing tone.	The tone of creative writing mainly stays informal.
Style	Academic writing needs to follow a particular set of writing styles.	Creative writing does not require any fixed writing style.
Goal	Its primary goal is to give fact-based information in the required format.	It aims to share information or thought in a creative and engaging manner.
Wordcount	There can be a strict word count limit in the case of academic writing.	The word count may vary depending on the kind of writing that needs to be written. For example, if one needs to write a poem, the word count would be less, while the word count might be higher in the case of stories.
Timeframe	Academic writers may have to meet deadlines to complete their write up.	Creative writers generally get enough time to think and write their creative pieces.
Fomat	Educational institutions may have different formats for their students to follow and submit assignments accordingly. They may have to follow APA, MLA, or Harvard writing guidelines .	The writing format for creative writing is not very particular, like academic writing. Creative writers have maximum flexibility to frame the format of their write-up according to the assignment or the message they need to convey.

Conclusion

So, this article discussed the major differences between academic writing and creative writing. I hope your doubt is clear and can easily differentiate between academic and creative writing. 

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