Throughout my educational career, I have always thought of myself as an effective writer. People told me I was an effective writer. Was I? Or was I just good enough to appear to be more effective than those around me? On rereading some of my own work, I lean toward the latter. It is one thing to be a naturally gifted writer, but another to be an effective one. Sure, you can get all your ideas down and can be enjoyable to read, but can you present a thorough argument with proper acknowledgement of credit?
This semester in WIPP 7001, along with high stakes writing during my PhD years here at UGA, has changed the way I view writing. The process of writing takes a significant amount of time because writing is just that—a process. If you take the time, I have found, it’s worth it in the end. Read what you wrote, and then read it again.
The process of writing takes a significant amount of time because writing is just that—a process. If you take the time, I have found, it’s worth it in the end. Read what you wrote, and then read it again.
So many scientists today think of themselves as “bad” writers and just accept it. I know many who have said something along these lines every time they are required to write anything high stakes. Yes, some have a difficult time conveying information, but does that make someone a “bad,” or ineffective, writer? Perhaps they are just unpracticed.
There were so few instances during my undergraduate studies when I needed to write in my chemistry classes. Usually assignments ended at “show the mechanism,” or “show the balanced equation.” Rarely are chemistry students required to write in an academic voice as in published work until graduate school. Correctly preparing publishable work then becomes a burden and a chore when it should be less of a worry than the quality and validity of the scientific inquiry. So many students do not know how to properly write down what needs to be said in the proper language. Their ideas may be insightful, but information delivery is often informal and lackluster.
Scientific WIP classes are a great opportunity for learning communication strategies and forms used in the physical sciences: papers, posters, presentations, etc. Practice in these areas is essential for not only publishing your work, but also conveying to future hiring managers what you have accomplished and why they should hire you. For example, in-class poster presentations are a great method for undergraduate exposure to this format without the expenses involved in attending conferences. Not only do they learn proper poster formatting but also practice presenting data through a new medium. Research is also presented in journal articles. Practice for this medium can be in the form of individual write-ups of methods, discussions, introductions, conclusions, or abstracts in an academic voice. I have only experienced one class in which our reports were written to address different journal formats; it was a pain at the time, but a great learning tool in retrospect. Effective scientific writing cannot be stressed enough to future scientists for knowledge transfer to readers.
Effective scientific writing cannot be stressed enough to future scientists for knowledge transfer to readers.
In the end, practice is the key no matter what your area of study. A journal article can flow like water and sound fantastic, while details and context are neglected. On the other hand, without proper support, scientific arguments can fall flat, as readers can get lost in writing that is scientifically accurate but ultimately inaccessible. The effective communication of ideas is at the heart of intellectual discourse and requires an active learning approach for successful implementation. Effective writing knowledge and skills can be fostered in all of us; we just need nurturing, practice, and hard work to continue developing as writers in any field.