Emotions in Academic Writing: A How-To and Why-Do Guide

Introduction

Coming off last year’s workshops team presentations on navigating style guides, it became clear that certain academic ways of writing can appear to stifle emotions. APA style, for instance, is structured so that writers purport a sense of rational objectivity, effacing personal identities for an emphasis on the science. Of course, this has its purpose, as science should be grounded in data and not in ego. However, writing is inherently tied to identity. We hold beliefs about facts, and write those beliefs, according to our experiences and perspectives. We shouldn’t pretend our emotions and beliefs don’t exist. In fact, pretending our emotions and beliefs don’t exist is dangerous. 

It’s dangerous because neutrality doesn’t exist. We can attempt to be as unbiased and neutral as possible in our work and writing, but the truth is that even neutrality purports a rhetorical stance about the state of the world. When we pretend that neutrality is perfectly possible, we ignore our stances that are slid under the radar. 

So, to be responsible writers, tutors, and people, we should consider the role of emotions in academic writing. Do emotions make us “lose reason?” Will being emotional make us “less persuasive?” Is being emotional “unprofessional?” If handled correctly—no, no, and, respectively, no. 

This blog post aims to address how we can express emotion effectively in academic writing, not just permissively, but actively engaging with what emotion can provide.

Why Emotions Matter

Emotions matter beyond their unavoidability. People shouldn’t have to stifle their emotions to be successful in academia. In fact, by using our emotions, which often emerge from our own place of being, we can provide more moving analyses grounded in lived experience. Curiosity, enthusiasm, or frustration can motivate deeper research and drive a compelling argument, adding depth to academic writing. 

Balancing Passion with Professionalism

Despite the merits of incorporating emotions in academic writing, we must remember that it can’t be purely emotional. Professionalism demands a level of empirical rigor that we should not leave to the wayside. Here, I present three strategies to balance your passion with your professionalism.

The first strategy is to frame passionate arguments with evidence and data to maintain credibility. Let’s say you’re writing a paper on gun control in the United States. You can advocate for or against gun control as passionately as you want, but it should be reinforced with data and evidence that support your points.

The second strategy is to avoid exaggeration. Words like “extremely” or “always” can make writing less persuasive. Hedging conclusions can increase your credibility and make it appear that though you have emotions, they are not clouding your judgment.

The third strategy is to focus on the subject at hand, not on yourself. You can have your emotions, but those emotions shouldn’t be the center of your argument or your paper. They should frame the way you write your paper to be persuasive towards a cause you’re passionate about.

Strategies to Channel Emotion Effectively

Now that we have strategies to balance our passion with professionalism, we can find ways to channel our emotions effectively in our writing. Here, I present three specific writing strategies for how to convey emotion in your academic writing.

The first strategy is to use active voice. By using an active voice, we can make writing feel more direct and powerful. Avoiding passive voice also allows us to not obfuscate the actors in the sentences, and clarity can pack a punch. 

The second strategy is to use strategic word choice. Certain adjectives, for instance, can convey the writer’s perspective and have an emotional impact. For example, saying a certain finding is “fascinating,” “noteworthy,” or “insightful” can show enthusiasm without compromising professionalism.

The third strategy is to vary sentence structure. When all our sentences are the same length and structure, they can get monotonous and boring. A dynamic sentence structure can reflect passion while also keeping the writing engaging. 

Examples

To illustrate my point about emotive writing that maintains professionalism, I asked ChatGPT to generate side-by-side examples of bland versus passionate academic writing to illustrate how emotional engagement can improve clarity and reader interest without sacrificing tone. Here is what it came up with:

Bland Example

The impact of climate change on agricultural production is a well-documented phenomenon. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events have been shown to negatively affect crop yields in many regions. This is particularly evident in areas that rely heavily on rain-fed agriculture. As a result, there is a need for further research into sustainable agricultural practices that can mitigate these effects.

Passionate Example

The devastating effects of climate change on agriculture are impossible to ignore. As temperatures soar, rains become unpredictable, and violent storms strike with increasing frequency, crops wither in fields that once flourished. Farmers who depend on the earth’s natural rhythms now face the cruel unpredictability of a changing climate. In these dire circumstances, the urgency for innovative and sustainable agricultural practices becomes clear—not as an abstract idea, but as a lifeline for the communities and ecosystems that feed the world.

Conclusion

Professional academic writing can, and should, have emotion. Emotion engages more than just the author, but the readers as well. It creates compelling arguments that can move audiences to new beliefs and actions. Writing “without” emotion is a farce, as neutrality itself purports a state of the world. 

While we write with emotion, it is important to avoid pitfalls like manipulating data to play on the emotions of the reader. However, being emotional in and of itself is more than a matter of persuasion, it is a matter of acknowledging our positionality and expressing that to our audiences. As writers, tutors, and people, we should encourage self-reflection and expression in ourselves and our writers. By moving towards emotional acceptance in academia, we can pave a path to a better understanding of ourselves and our world.