Report writing is a formal style of writing elaborately on a topic. The tone of a report is always formal. The audience it is meant for is always thought out section. For example – report writing about a school event, report writing about a business case, etc. Today we shall learn about the essential elements of Report Writing.
Before we get into Report writing, how about we first draw a clear distinction between essays and reports. These words are sometimes used interchangeably, but there is definitely a difference of purpose for both. Let’s see some differences between essays and reports:
Essays Report Writing
Presents information and opinions Presents facts and information specifically, no opinions
Written for everyone in general Written for a specific audience, a report concerns itself to only a certain set of people related
The structure is casually flowing in paragraphs The structure is very crisp and clean, using pointers and numbered headings and sub-headings
Essays usually have room for expression of one’s opinions, need not be supported with graphical proofs Using tables, graphs, charts to prove a point is very common
An essay has a logical flow of thoughts but no need of a summary A report often needs a quick summary addressing highlighting points
Doesn’t have an appendices Often has appendices
Both essay and report writing need formal writing, analytical thinking, solid reasoning behind every conclusion, careful reading and neat presentation, but a report-writing layout is very different from essay writing Crisp, often pre-designed layouts
Essential Elements to Report Writing
From the previous section, you must have gotten a tiny idea of what Reports are like. Let’s break it down further here extending from that point
Reports are written with much analysis. The purpose of report writing is essential to inform the reader about a topic, minus one’s opinion on the topic. It’s simply a portrayal of facts, as it is. Even if one gives inferences, solid analysis, charts, tables and data is provided. Mostly it is specified by the person who’s asked for the report whether they’d like your take or not if that is the case.In many cases, what’s required is your suggestions for a specific case after a factual report. That depends on why are you writing the report and who you are writing it for in the first place. Knowing your audience’s motive for asking for that report is very important as it sets the course of the facts focused in your report. You will know what we mean in further chapters where we actually explain this with examples.
Furthermore,
write-up flows like – introduction, body, conclusion and summary. The layout is pretty crisp with a title page, numbered subheadings, clear bulleted points, recommendations, references, appendices, dates, and timings reported exactly sometimes, and so on. This format stays consistent throughout.
All your facts and information presented in the report not only have to bias-free, but they also have to be a 100% correct. Proof-reading and fact-checking is always what you do as a thumb rule before submitting a report.