I believe that one of the most important aspects of scientific writing is accuracy. When writing in science you are accepting a responsibility that what you're writing is, to the best of your knowledge, truthful. It is about adding to the knowledge of your readers, not just feeding them entertaining half truths. The cross referencing and checking up of facts is, therefore, extremely important. In saying that, what is the use of all that research and striving for accuracy, if nobody reads what you've written? This is where another extremely important aspect of scientific writing comes in - relevancy.
Science writers are often tackling very complicated subjects. Just as important and often more difficult than good research is making the subject relevant to the reader. In our first assignment our target audience were the readers of a local newspaper. Therefore long technical and wordy scientific explanations were not going to grab their attention, rather the content had to be entertaining - interesting yet not overbearing - and conveyed in a way which they could relate to their everyday lives. This was quite a difficult balance to achieve, as newspaper readers could mean anything from a professor in the subject to someone who knows nothing, or next to nothing about it. It is important to be able to reach a wide range of interest levels and prior knowledge.
Our next assignment on the other hand is a report meant for the Executive Leadership Team at the Ministry of Health, This means our target audience is not so interested in being entertained over breakfast, rather they are looking for a convincing and well thought out report which they can put into action. An all together different kettle of fish. Although a lot of the information is going to be exactly the same, the way in which it is delivered will most likely be totally different.
From writing an article in a magazine covering why kids should brush their teeth, to delivering an in depth scientific report on the benefits of dental programmes in schools, writing in science covers a broad scope of intended audiences. In every instance it is important to be able to stand by what you've written with total conviction in it's accuracy. It is just as important, however, that the information is delivered in a suitable way, otherwise all that hard work could be for nothing.
Science writers are often tackling very complicated subjects. Just as important and often more difficult than good research is making the subject relevant to the reader. In our first assignment our target audience were the readers of a local newspaper. Therefore long technical and wordy scientific explanations were not going to grab their attention, rather the content had to be entertaining - interesting yet not overbearing - and conveyed in a way which they could relate to their everyday lives. This was quite a difficult balance to achieve, as newspaper readers could mean anything from a professor in the subject to someone who knows nothing, or next to nothing about it. It is important to be able to reach a wide range of interest levels and prior knowledge.
Our next assignment on the other hand is a report meant for the Executive Leadership Team at the Ministry of Health, This means our target audience is not so interested in being entertained over breakfast, rather they are looking for a convincing and well thought out report which they can put into action. An all together different kettle of fish. Although a lot of the information is going to be exactly the same, the way in which it is delivered will most likely be totally different.
From writing an article in a magazine covering why kids should brush their teeth, to delivering an in depth scientific report on the benefits of dental programmes in schools, writing in science covers a broad scope of intended audiences. In every instance it is important to be able to stand by what you've written with total conviction in it's accuracy. It is just as important, however, that the information is delivered in a suitable way, otherwise all that hard work could be for nothing.
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