by I’m lucky to have lengthy conversations with podcast guests about a variety of topics. Off air, with guest Dr. Betsey King, I was able to pick her brain about people looking for guidance with academic writing. She gave me several tips and I was so frustrated that I hadn’t recorded them, that I made sure to write them down for a blog post.
- Practice writing concisely. No joke, we talked about practicing by using Twitter. You only get so many characters and have to make that message clear.
- Continue to learn new vocabulary. Oftentimes, one strong word can convey the message that two sentences can.
- Get ahold of of Strunk and White’s book “The Elements of Style” which is available for download here as well.
- Proofread, Proofread, Proofread. Even though it’s not fun, it sucks, it’s frustrating, it’s necessary. (I’m so guilty of this one in particular!!)
- This last one came from Dr. King and I blending a bunch of funny ideas, but basically, Marie Kondo your writing! Take each sentence by itself and ask “Does this spark joy?”, “Does this communicate what I want?”, “Is this my highest quality?”. If you answer no to any of these things, highlight it and come back to it later.
Do you have any tips for clinical and/or academic writing? Shoot me a message and let me know!
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