Harnessing science for effective written communication
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Joshi, Yateendra MSc, Member, Board of Experts, [US] National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, Council Member, European Association of Science Editors (also, Chair, Training committee); Pune, India yateendra.joshi@gmail.com
Abstract Writing can be defined as expressing thoughts using a spoken language not verbally but through a script corresponding to the spoken words. The choice and arrangement of those words, especially by published authors of fiction, constitute their unique writing style, and the study of such styles is traditionally the domain of the humanities. Science, on the other hand, can help in improving non-fiction writing, especially scientific and technical writing, by (1) analysing the writings of expert practitioners of the craft of writing both fiction and non-fiction and (2) carrying out well-designed experiments to test the results that emerge through the analyses. The proposed presentation will introduce the audience to such approaches and suggest how their results can be applied to produce clear and effective technical writing.
Keywords: scientific writing, science of writing, making writing accessible, evidence-based writing strategies, making numbers comprehensible, punctuation to clarify meaning