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Excited to join these excellent panelists to discuss neuroscientists & #scicomm today @ 3pm. @neuromatch @crozSciTech
In anticipation, here are 5 tips for scientists who want to write about science. They may not all be what you expect [short thread]
https://twitter.com/crozSciTech/status/1321123500200022020?s=20
In anticipation, here are 5 tips for scientists who want to write about science. They may not all be what you expect [short thread]
https://twitter.com/crozSciTech/status/1321123500200022020?s=20
1. Scientific expertise does not confer communication skills. People have studied scicomm! Learn from them https://twitter.com/Constababble/status/1096883805338521601
2. Learn to read like a writer. Just because a piece of science writing is easy to read doesn’t mean it was easy to write. In fact, probably the opposite. Figure out what makes great science writing tick. @Open_Notebook storygrams is a great place to begin https://www.theopennotebook.com/category/elements-of-craft/storygrams/
3. Scientific expertise is an asset, but also a liability. Just because *you* like a subject doesn't mean a reader will too. You have to recalibrate your sense of what makes science interesting.
4. For aspiring journalists: You’re not the expert anymore. Trying to impress the fancy scientist you’re interviewing is an impulse that’s difficult for some of us to suppress. Suppress it. You’ll get better quotes.
5. Realize that scientists have agendas and viewpoints and learn to question them in a way that might not occur to you when you're in academia.
If you want a really deep dive on this, check out Daniel Greenberg’s classic “The Politics of Pure Science” https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3642775.html
If you want a really deep dive on this, check out Daniel Greenberg’s classic “The Politics of Pure Science” https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3642775.html
BONUS LIFE TIP for aspiring full-time science journalists:
Assess your risk tolerance for this career. Careers in academia & the biomedical industry are more stable and predictable than careers in science writing. There’s not *a* path to become a writer https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/on-the-origin-of-science-writers
Assess your risk tolerance for this career. Careers in academia & the biomedical industry are more stable and predictable than careers in science writing. There’s not *a* path to become a writer https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/on-the-origin-of-science-writers
OK, that's it for now, but certainly not all there is to learn. To read more check out these resources in the next few tweets
Get familiar with @Open_Notebook, which is an industry treasure. They have a new book on the Craft of Science Writing
https://www.theopennotebook.com/the-craft-of-science-writing/
And a great article on going from pipette to pen: https://www.theopennotebook.com/2015/06/16/from-science-to-science-writing/
https://www.theopennotebook.com/the-craft-of-science-writing/
And a great article on going from pipette to pen: https://www.theopennotebook.com/2015/06/16/from-science-to-science-writing/
This great @constababble thread starts with a common false assumption of novice scicommers and ends with great list of resources: https://twitter.com/Constababble/status/1096664046063935488?s=20
This great thread by @kareemcarr on understanding the broader role you’re playing in the discourse: https://twitter.com/kareem_carr/status/1282108190583410688
Don't miss @lizneeley’s excellent article on communicating coronavirus science and generally listen to everything she says about scicomm https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/how-talk-about-coronavirus/609118/
Finally - and I can't emphasize this enough - people have studied what makes effective scicomm for politically charged topics. The climate communication community has so many resources for you to learn to communicate responsibly. Here's a starting place https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/
