Professional writing is writing for reward or as a profession, or writing to a standard and style demanded by a particular profession. It involves the use of clear language to convey information in a way that is easily understood by the intended audience, and may be focused on information, persuasion, or to stimulate debate.
Contents
A professional writer may be freelance, or employed in an occupation where a professional writing standard is a prerequisite, such as journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations, the military, or technical writing. While not necessarily the practitioner's primary profession, professional writing skills are essential in many other fields such as law, medicine, business, engineering, and social work.
Communication
There is, particularly in business, a need for concise and unambiguous communication with colleagues, suppliers, clients, and the general public. Professional writing forestalls inattentiveness and criticism.
Persuasion
Persuasive professional writing is connected to the concept of rhetoric, which focuses on informing or persuading and relies upon stimulating the interest of the audience through creating authoritative arguments.
Information
Clear and concise professional writing is vital in many fields where misunderstanding could have serious consequences, such as in law, engineering, technical manuals, and product labels.
Entertainment
Professional writing includes non-fiction or fiction for entertainment which may be in the form of essays, short stories, books, plays, or screenplays across the whole range of writing genres.
Examples
Skills
The core skills required in professional writing are good communication, organized thought, a high standard of grammar and language, clarity, and conciseness. Skills may be acquired through practise or formal learning. While many practitioners of professional writing do so as a vocation rather than as full-time employment, the element of "professionalism" is what defines professional writing. Such is the importance of professional writing in the modern world, many academic institutions offer courses up to degree level on the subject, with some tailored to specific professions such as social work.