1/ A Thread on the book "Writing for Social Scientists" by Howard S. Becker. Things I noted/learned from the book (~32)

One Liner- A social science professor shares writing tips that break a lot of myths about writing and shares insights on the writing process.

2/ On Bad Writing: Most of his students worried about bad writing and would hide their writing for fear of ridicule. He says that real writing involves a lot of editing and rework. He advises people not to give too much weight to the "rules" of writing.

3/ If you do, it will block the flow of ideas. Your first drafts are just brain dumps. First drafts are for discovery, not for presentation. It shows you the gaps you need to fill. Hand out early drafts to your target audience for feedback.

4/ Find a safe community to share your bad work and improve your prose. There is no such thing as, "Write once and you're done."

5/ On Persona and Authority: People mistake their writing/work with their identity/persona. Complex writing comes from a desire for status. Through our writing, we hope to adopt a persona that others would praise or admire.

6/ Writers try to signal their knowledge and authority to a specific audience (professors, editors etc.) People only give themselves permission to write simple prose after they have published "traditional" content.

7/ On Getting it Right: People think that they have to get it right the first time. They are ignorant that the best professors or writers never do. They associate the first-time draft as a reflection of their mediocrity.

8/ Write your introduction only after you have fleshed out the body of your content. Do a brain dump without any fear and see what "falls out of your head". You can later try to put the pieces together and look for missing ones.

9/ What to write: Write 100 thesis ideas. You will see that most of them are variations of just 2-3 ideas. Hone in on those ones.

10/ Trying to compose perfect prose is like juggling a hundred bottles. You will overload your brain and lose balance. A simple way to get a brain dump is to record yourself talking about the topic.

11/ There is no one way to organize an essay or argument. Make a "spew draft" before you build an outline (bottom-up writing). Be open with your audience and explain why you organized a certain way instead of another way.

12/ Embrace the fact that you are a human seeking truth, not a paragon of wisdom. Your goal is not to write flawless prose. Your goal is to write prose to the best of your ability.

13/ On Editing by Ear: Good editing is not just following a bunch of rules. Most of our life decisions are made heuristically not algorithmically. We do most of our editing by ear. We look for what "sounds" good on paper.

14/ It's like a Jazz musician who knows what sounds just right by ear or a chef who knows what tastes justs right. They know it when it works. You start by learning the rules, but as you become mature, you develop a "sense" for it.

15/ Some General Rules: Use active instead of passive voice, remove non-working words or phrases, use fewer words, make use of the rhythm of repetition, use concrete examples, use metaphors that the audience can relate to.

16/ On Overcoming Fear: Writing feels riskier than talking. It feels riskier because you open yourself up for scrutiny. Negative feedback hurts your ego. You feel that your reputation is at stake.

17/ You know that people will forget what you say, but what you write will stay forever. The truth is that if you accept that you will make mistakes along the way and keep writing, you will get better. The small wins will give you confidence to keep going.

18/ Getting it Out the Door: In the software industry, engineers must keep shipping. In publishing industry, writers must get stuff out of the door. You can't swim without getting in the water.

19/ On Originality: Originality is the product of faulty memory. People don't want to admit that their precious ideas were in print before. There is no one way to organize and present an idea. An idea can be presented in a million ways.

20/ Instead of fearing the "classic" works, use them as a developmental tool. Learn their organizational and presentation style.

21/ No one really starts from scratch. No scientific revolution was started by one person. Just do good work that adds to existing ones. Find novel ways to connect your ideas to previous literature. Be like the woodworker who creates dovetails to connect other's parts.

22/ Good writing is learned through experience and receiving a lot of crucial and useful feedback. Writing must be seen as a game.

23/ Author's Writing process:

• Start by talking about the idea to an audience (a person, class or seminar)

•These talks are the "rough draft". If he can't explain it in a logical way, he needs to research and refine it.

24/ • After talking for a while, he feels restless. He would sit down and type out everything in his mind. This is a rough draft. Any missing gaps would be marked as "TBD"

• Edit by refining words, removing excess, clarifying, and expanding ideas.

25/ • After 2nd or 3rd drafts, he would share this with his "critique" friends.

• He would simultaneously work on many essays so that he can drop one when he is stuck and pick up another one.

26/ Think like a photographer when making drafts. There is no shame in clicking 1000 snaps and picking the best ones.

27/ Good stories are more important than good theories. People will forget your theories, they will not forget the story and its characters.

28/ Always find "modules" that will fit within your essay. Study them, make new interpretations, and make them your own. Your essay is like a patchworked quilt. Arrange ideas in a fresh way or shine light from a different angle on an old idea.

29/ On Writing with Computers: Computers removed the friction from the writing process. No more ugly redlines and overflowing trash bins. Exploit the new tools to move around the modules in your writing and play with new structures until it makes sense.

30/ Final Words: Knowing writing tips are not enough. Make them a part of your habits, take risks, find your tribe, share your work, get feedback, and improve. Publishing has become a political drama. In academics, people are publishing just to get citations.

31/ Traditional journalists have rigid and outdated rules. You are better off publishing books as they have more flexible editorial guidelines. Be hopeful, embrace simplicity, and keep writing.

32/ Overall Thoughts: Insightful, clear, and straightforward advice on writing. This is not an "academic writing" oriented book as the title may suggest. Instead, this is a book for anyone and everyone who writes.