THE SUBTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL WRITING

“Hi … how are you doing folks? Yeah… we all are quarantined in the lock down ☹. Bt we still have time to lrn new things as the lockdown and WFH period is extended 4th time in India.

Vs.

“The lockdown has been the extended fourth time in India. Businesses have started reinventing themselves, facing a significant setback from the current pandemic. Some of the IT companies such as TCS and Tech Mahindra of India have extended time to work from home. So, during the WFH period, we still have time to hone our existing skills as well as learning the new ones.”

Above are the two paragraphs listed as examples of formal and informal writing. The first paragraph is an example of informal writing and the second one of the formal writing. But what are the differences, pros, and cons of the two, writers must understand?

THE PROS OF INFORMAL WRITING:

1. You are quick in writing

2. You look approachable

3. It is emotionally connecting

4. The language of the general public

5. Popular among bloggers and social media netizens

6. Typos and grammar mistakes do not matter

THE CONS OF INFORMAL WRITING:

1. Not suitable for official use

2. Cannot be used for professional networking

3. Proscribed for scholarly writing

4. Typos and grammatical mistakes

5. Sometimes looks cheap

6. Confusing and ambiguous

There are the pros and cons of formal writing, as well. Let us investigate the pros and cons of formal writing:

THE PROS OF FORMAL WRITING:

1. Used widely for official communication

2. Language of the gentlemen

3. Apt for scholarly writing

4. One will become habitual of not committing typos and grammatical mistakes

5. Apt for professional networking

6. The intended meaning remains clear

THE CONS OF FORMAL WRITING:

1. It does not look emotionally connecting

2. It takes time to write anything in the formal writing

3. Formal writing does not look approachable

4. Not the language of the general public

5. One must be very careful of typos and grammar

6. Not much popular for social media writing

Both types of writing have their pros and cons listed here. So, what kind of writing one must adopt depends upon the context and situation. However, the sophisticated blend of both formal and informal writing can do a good trick for writers.