Day 1: Lecture

On alienation and beauty: How scientists can make the best (and not the worst) science writers

At a time when more scientific knowledge is available to the public than ever before, we are seeing alarming levels of distrust of scientists and academic institutions—scientists are often perceived as elites who are disconnected from the rest of the world and driven by their own interests and agendas. Many scientists do recognize the urgency of communicating their work and ideas to non-scientist audiences but have little experience writing in a way that connects with general readers. The received wisdom among journalists, who serve as gatekeepers for much of science writing, is that academic writers simply write badly and need to be trained to write in a more journalistic style. In this talk, I acknowledge some of the stylistic conventions that make academic writing alienating to non-specialist readers. However, I argue that simply adopting the conventions of journalism to writing about science is unduly limiting and that scientists can make a unique contribution to the developing genre of science writing. By relying too heavily on the tropes and narrative techniques of journalistic writing, scientist-writers risk passing up creative opportunities that are available only to those who know their subject deeply. Scientist-writers do need to adapt their writing away from an academic genre, but they also have the potential to allow readers to see, from the inside, what it is to be preoccupied with, beguiled by, and passionately devoted to the questions they have chosen to pursue. They are in a unique position to help readers understand and connect with the process of science as well as its results.

Day 2: Workshop

Developing a unique voice for communicating science to a general audience

This workshop will consist of an introductory lecture and hands-on sessions with active participation in writing exercises and group discussion.

In the introductory lecture, we will take a close look at various examples of writing about science. We will compare the language and techniques of academic writing with non-academic styles intended for more general audiences. We will also discuss some difficulties and concerns common among scientists who try to connect with non-scientific audiences. These include: a) explaining why the scientific work is important or compelling, b) taking into account the knowledge state of the intended reader, and c) conveying scientific uncertainty in an appropriate manner. We will talk about some possible ways to address these challenges.

In the hands-on sessions, participants will be led through a series of exercises aimed at developing a strong and unique voice for science writing. We will plumb our own experiences as scientists for inspiration and writing material and will go through the process of identifying explicit goals for our readers before launching into writing a piece. We will draft the opening paragraphs of an essay or blog post on a chosen topic and discuss the various attempts and challenges that emerge.

This workshop is open to scientists in any discipline at various stages of their scientific development (including upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and faculty members) who wish to develop skills for writing for non-scientific audiences. A basic competence in academic scientific writing and argumentation is presumed.