--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Academic writing you have to get right…" description: "\"Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference.\" — Elliott Colla" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/elliott-colla-15941_academic_academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-f_226716.jpg" --- # Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have… ![“Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference.” quote by Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/elliott-colla-15941_academic_academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-f_226716.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/elliott-colla-15941_academic_academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-f_226716.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/elliott-colla-15941_academic_academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-f_226716.jpg) > “Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference.” [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Distinguishes factual precision in academia from creative plausibility in fiction. **In simple terms:** Academic truth vs. fictional believability. Key Takeaway Adapt writing style to purpose. Themes writing truth creativity Mood analytical instructive Type educational literary When to use this quote - research papers - novels - screenplays Key Concepts epistemology narrative theory Questions to Reflect On - When should you prioritize plausibility? - How does audience expectation shape your writing? A Different Perspective Balancing factuality and imagination can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Academic writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic-writing/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference. In a way, if someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-fiction-you-have-to-get-2/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [The problem with fiction, it has to be plausible. That's not true with non-fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/the-problem-with-fiction-it-has-to-be-plausible-that-s-not-true-with/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [Fiction has to be plausible. All history has to do is happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-turtledove/fiction-has-to-be-plausible-all-history-has-to-do-is-happen/) [Harry Turtledove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-turtledove/) > [I am not built for academic writings. Action is my domain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-am-not-built-for-academic-writings-action-is-my-domain/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“I have an uncompromising principle against the use of AI in literature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/i-have-an-uncompromising-principle-against-the-use-of-ai-in-literature/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The more passive one's life in the field, the greater the need to reverse the situation when one returns home, which is why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/the-more-passive-one-s-life-in-the-field-the-greater-the-need-to/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [I don't think academic writing ever was wonderful. However, science used to be much less specialized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-don-t-think-academic-writing-ever-was-wonderful-however-science/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I've often heard academics disparage non-academic writing in terms that suggest it could be a negative in the tenure process, irrespective of the quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-drezner/i-ve-often-heard-academics-disparage-non-academic-writing-in-terms/) Daniel Drezner > [The denial of any distinction between foreseen and intended consequences, as far as responsibility is concerned, was not made by Sidgwick in developing any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-e-m-anscombe/the-denial-of-any-distinction-between-foreseen-and-intended/) [G. E. M. Anscombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-e-m-anscombe/) > [So in writing, there is always a right word, and every other than that is wrong. 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Give yourself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-moss/write-start-writing-today-start-writing-right-now-don-t-write-it/) [Tara Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-moss/) > [When you are writing; do it a right thing, because world begins with writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-writing-do-it-a-right-thing-because-world-begins-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was brought up to try to see what was wrong and right it. Since I am a writer, writing is how I right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-was-brought-up-to-try-to-see-what-was-wrong-and-right-it-since-i-am/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“The best writing is what's right in front of you. Sometimes I'd walk down the street with poets and they wouldn't see anything. I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-best-writing-is-what-s-right-in-front-of-you-sometimes-i-d-walk/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) ## More by Elliott Colla > [In the Green Zone in Iraq you have your radio, you have your food, you have your own electricity, your own toilets. Everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-the-green-zone-in-iraq-you-have-your-radio-you-have-your-food-you/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [There are certainly times in history where power associates itself closely with fields that we would call the humanities, like rulers surrounding themselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-are-certainly-times-in-history-where-power-associates-itself/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [A high-ranking Syrian official in DC laughed when he heard I was reading Michel Aflaq and writing this book. 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I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. 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