With the deadline for the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize fast approaching, we thought we’d continue our “How to” series with some tips on how to avoid common mistakes.
Akshat Rathi is the science and data editor of The Conversation UK and has seen his fair share of writing submitted for publication. Here he identifies some of the common mistakes, and shares his advice on how to avoid making them in the first place…
In science writing, like in life, checklists are useful. Here is one for you to avoid common pitfalls as you sculpt your submission to perfection.
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1. Are you overstating or exaggerating?
The most exciting thing about science is that it can have great implications for the future. It is very easy to use these implications as a hook to draw readers. Writers of press releases and promoters of their own work (even if they are respected scientists) can often overstate their case to sell their ideas. That is why, when writing your own science story, you should always be sceptical (see point two).
Only a few science papers published in any year will actually lead to great advances or have great implications. Are you sure you are writing about such science? You don’t want to write stories like “Marijuana makes young brains go to pot“, only to be shot down.
2. Did you check with an independent expert?
Unless you are the expert in a field of research, you won’t be in a place to judge whether the findings of a research paper stand. Peer review is no guarantee that the study doesn’t still have flaws. Make sure to contact a relevant authority in that field and ask them to read the research paper. Ask them the hard questions. Force them to reveal limitations. Chances are that the science is solid but those bold claims in the paper about what the science can achieve don’t stand scrutiny of an independent expert (see point one).
3. Have you edited your own writing?
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As the old adage goes: writing is mostly rewriting. First drafts are hard, but your story is not done without many, many edits.
If you can, take a good night’s sleep after writing your first draft. When you wake up and read it again, you will find many places where edits are needed. That is not something to be ashamed of. Instead, take that opportunity to make sure it is effortless reading. Fill gaps to maintain logical consistency. Cut out extra words. Get rid of unnecessary details.
4. Are you mixing metaphors or overusing them?
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Ask any good writer and they will gladly admit to heeding the advice of George Orwell: use metaphors sparingly. If you do use them, don’t mix them.
Science writer Jacob Aaron got it right: “Analogies in science writing are like forklift trucks—when used correctly they do a lot of heavy lifting, but if you don’t know what you’re doing you’ll quickly drive them into a wall of laboured metaphors and cause some major damage.”
5. Are you lecturing your readers?
No one likes to be talked down to, not even students in a lecture hall. When writing, assume that your readers have no knowledge beyond high school science, but always respect their intelligence. Nothing is more off-putting than condescension.
6. Have you checked your facts?
No matter how good your story is, factual errors can kill it. Double-check and triple-check from original sources that you have your facts right. Don’t rely solely on Wikipedia. Don’t trust the numbers even if they come from the mouth of a respected scientist.
7. Would your mum read it without putting it down?
In the process of writing a story, you will have spent a lot of time doing research and learnt plenty of interesting things about the science. But don’t try to fit them all in your story, because you will lose the most interesting parts in the detail.
Stay focused on what is most interesting in your 800-word article, and bring it out for the reader.
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Clik here to view.!["4/366(Y2) - Research" by Nomadic Lass]()
8. Have you got feedback from a friend?
Your mum may not be your best critic. So before you send your story to a competition or an editor, get a friend or colleague to read it. Having spent many hours working on the same story can make obvious mistakes invisible to the writer. A fresh pair of eyes will catch those.
In a nutshell
DO:
- Check your facts
- Edit your own writing
- Get a friend to read your draft
DON’T:
- Exaggerate or overstate
- Overuse or mix metaphors
- Talk down to the reader
The Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2014, in association with the Guardian and the Observer is open for entries now. Get writing and submit your piece before the deadline on 11th May 2014 for your chance to win £1000 and a chance to get your work published. We are running a series of “How to” posts giving you tips on how to write a good science story from a research paper, how to interview someone, how to write a science feature and more in the run-up to the competition deadline.
Full details and terms and conditions can be found on the Science Writing Prize pages of the Wellcome Trust website. Good luck!
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Image credits: “2008-01-26 (Editing a paper) – 31″ by Nic McPhee, CC-BY-SA on Flickr, “It’s Not Rocket Surgery.” by Carolyn Sewell, CC-BY-NC-ND on Flickr, “4/366(Y2) – Research” by Nomadic Lass – CC-BY-SA on Flickr,
Filed under: Competition, SciComms How to..., Science Communication, Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize Tagged: How to, Science writing, SWP2014, Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize Image may be NSFW.
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