The difference between practical writing and literary works is mainly manifested in five aspects: social function, way of thinking, reflection of reality, forms of expression and language use.

First, social roles.

Practical writing is written by people to deal with public and private affairs and solve practical problems, which has practical application value.

For example, if you ask your superiors for approval to handle something, you should write instructions;

To settle the dispute, a civil complaint should be written.

The social function of practical writing is also reflected in its clear reading object.

Who to write to is certain.

Literary works are not created to deal with public and private affairs and solve practical problems, so they have no practical application value.

It exerts a subtle influence on readers, indirectly affects people's actions, and thus produces social effects by shaping characters, describing scenery and expressing feelings.

Its reading target is uncertain, and anyone can read it.

Second, the way of thinking.

Practical writing pays attention to logical thinking in the way of thinking. It mainly convinces people with the power of logic through established facts or through concepts, judgments and reasoning.

For example, an investigation report reveals the nature and laws of things mainly through the analysis and synthesis of a large number of materials. Therefore, when writing an investigation report, it is generally necessary to state the facts and analyze the facts, so that the conclusions drawn are convincing.

In addition, the ideas to be expressed in practical writing are directly told to readers, and can only be interpreted in one way, not in many ways.

Literary works pay attention to thinking in images, and reveal the essence of things by shaping images, depicting life scenes, reflecting reality, expressing thoughts and feelings.

The meaning of the work is not directly told to readers, but expressed through images.

It has not only one explanation, but also many explanations.

Third, reflect the reality.

Both practical writing and literary works require a true reflection of reality, but there are differences between them.

The truth of literary works is an artistic truth. Artistic truth may not necessarily reflect the people and things that actually exist in social life, but people infer the possible people and things according to the internal logic of social life, or people think they should exist according to the feelings of writers and the wishes of the broad masses of the people. Therefore, literary works can be fictional.

In the novel, based on the truth of life, concrete and vivid images are created by means of generalization, concentration, processing and refining, deformation and imagination to show some essence, implication and laws of social life.

Practical writing is not allowed to be fictional like literary creation, nor can it be subjective and exaggerated.

The true expression of practical writing is an objective and true reflection of reality.

What is said not only reflects the inevitability of history, but also has the reality of objective reality.

The people and things you write must be true.

Fourth, the form of expression.

The forms and techniques of expression of literary works require diversification, trying to get rid of the shackles of patterns and advocate originality to meet the aesthetic needs of different readers.

In order to be different, writers attach great importance to innovation, and the biggest taboo is similarity.

Due to the requirements of functionality, efficiency, seriousness, easy recognition and acceptability, practical writing has formed certain formats and norms in the long-term social application process, and writers cannot change them at will.

Of course, emphasizing the format of practical writing does not mean that practical writing should be the same, but requires writers to actively exert their subjective initiative and better express their talents and literary thoughts on the premise of following these models.

Fifth, language use.

Both the language of literary works and the language of practical writing pay attention to beauty, but the connotation of beauty is different.

Because literature reflects life through images, it is necessary to paint colorful and vivid pictures of life, which is artistic and can impress readers emotionally. Therefore, its language is vivid, concise and implicit, fresh and diverse, and musical.

Practical writing pays attention to practicality, so its language pays attention to practicality and standardization. Specifically, it requires simplicity, accuracy, conciseness, appropriateness and standardization, and rarely uses decorative words.