Interaction: The Difference between Speech and Writing
Read this section about the primary difference between speech and writing and how it impacts the way you should approach your writing.
The Biggest Difference Between Speech and Writing is Interaction
For one thing, when you talk to someone, you generally know to whom you are speaking. Whether you are talking to someone in person or talking on a phone, your message is targeted to a specific person or group of people with whom you are interacting. And of course if it is live interaction, you have the advantage of body language and facial expression to assist you in getting across what you want to say. Even when the communication is over a phone or otherwise not in person, you still have the advantage of back and forth interaction and voice tone. You say something and the person you are talking to responds. The person you are talking to says something and you respond and this process goes back and forth for the length of the conversation.
In addition to the difference in interaction between speech and writing, there are differences in the need for support. If you think about it, you make assertions and claims all the time in your daily speech. You make personal statements like,
"The new Star Wars movie was great,"
"I had a good day at work," or
"My car is a hunk of junk,"
and you make statements about larger issues like,
"I don't like the President,"
"My city really needs an additional exit off the highway," or
"Medical marijuana should be federally legalized".
The people (or person) you are talking to may not question your claim or ask for any support of it. They may already know why you feel the way you do; they may agree with you; or they may simply not want to put you on the spot or spend any quantity of time in the conversation asking for your elaboration.
This is not the case when you are writing. You will generally have an idea for whom your writing is intended, but it lacks the interaction of speech and many of the assumptions you make in speech are not applicable in writing. For example, when you speak, you know that if the person you talk to has a question, they will likely ask it. However, when you write, you have to always write in such a way as to anticipate questions your readers might have. They don't get the chance to interact with you and you can never assume that they share or understand your point of view. When you write assertions or claims like the ones above, you have to support those statements with evidence, explanation, and elaboration (think of these as the three Es – we'll come back to them later).
Source: Erin Severs
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