Make Your Writing Readablefor scientists and engineers:

Y N MohapatraIIT Kanpur

‘How to ’

IDC 603A MAR 08, 2018 IIT Kanpur

Part I

Principles : Story & Style

ynm iit kanpur

Style ?Ø Fashion, Signature, Swag !!!Ø AestheticØ EffectiveØ Defined Format, Usage, Punctuation

ynm iit kanpur

Style Manuals of Most Publishing Houses: Examples

o APS Style Manual for Physicso Chicago Manual of Styleo Oxford Style Manualo BBC, National Geographic, Associated Press, Columbia

Online Style

A search for…..

Claritywhile being Concise

Continuityor Flow while retaining emphasis

Cohesion with Unity of purpose and style

These do not come naturally to most of us.ynm iit kanpur

Clarity

“I ask finally that you avoid one error of belief that is monstrously prevalent.This is the widespread notion that

…’ to write clearly, you must first think clearly.’

This sharp little maxim may appear logical, but it is really rubbish. “

- Scott L Montgomery, The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science

Most technical writing is a struggle to achieve clarity.ynm iit kanpur

Writing is a tool to get Clarity“No matter how rational your thoughts may be (or appear to be)

on a particular problem, no matter how detailed your intentions and plottings, the act of writing almost always prove rebellious, full of unforeseen difficulties, sidetracks, blind alleys, revelations. Good, clear writing – writing that teaches and informs without confusion- emerges from a process of struggle, or if you prefer, litigation. “

As scientists or engineers, writing is an essential part of our profession and disciplinary tool-box.

ynm iit kanpur

“ Most often , the terms or formula given above need to be reversed: ‘clear thinking can emerge from clear writing’. Imposing order by organizing and expressing ideas has great power to clarify. In many cases, writing is the process through which scientists come to understand the real form and implications of their work.“

- Scott L Montgomery, The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science

Towards Clarity : Keep Rewriting

“Rewriting is the essence of writing.

I pointed out that the professional writers rewrite their sentences over and over and they rewrite they rewrite what they have rewritten.”

- William Zinsser, On Writing Well

How do you ensure what you have rewritten is better?ynm iit kanpur

Is it a better STORY ?

Ø Science Writing as Story Telling (J. Schimel, Writing Science, OUP 2012)

Ø Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words(D. Lindsay, CSIRO 2012)

Ø Does the story work ?Ø Does the story stick ?

(C. Heath and D. Heath, Made to Stick, Random House, 2007)

Exercise: Think of your current paper writing task as a story.ynm iit kanpur

Structure of a STORY Ø Scientific Paper : Structure

OpeningChallengeActionResolution

(J. Schimel, Writing Science, OUP 2012)

Ø Each sub-part is a story within a story.Ø Even a single sentence is a story – the shortest one

All Journal formats have this in common.ynm iit kanpur

Components of a STORY Ø A story has

Characters which Act to achieve a Purpose

Ø Identifying characters in your story is important. They are typically subject or noun-phrase of your sentences.

Ø They act through verbs, which take the story forward.

Ø Purpose is the point you want to make.

Exercise: Let us take some examples from your current task.ynm iit kanpur

Example: CharactersSupernovae deposit enormous amounts of energy into their

surroundings. They play a key role in the heating of their hostgalaxies and in the enrichment of the interstellar medium withheavy elements that form the building blocks of life. Yet theactual explosion mechanism is not well understood. One wayto study the explosion is through the dynamics of the stellardebris that comprise supernova remnants such as CassiopeiaA. Cas A is the second youngest supernova remnant in theGalaxy (approximately 340 years old) and is also among thebrightest. It is well studied at radio, X-ray, infrared and opticalwavelengths and is known to have two oppositely directed jetsof ejecta with expansion velocities as high as 15,000 km/s.

Example: Characters & ActionSupernovae deposit enormous amounts of energy into their

surroundings. They play a key role in the heating of their host galaxies and in the enrichment of the interstellar medium with heavy elements that form the building blocks of life. Yet the actual explosion mechanism is not well understood. One wayto study the explosion is through the dynamics of the stellar debris that comprise supernova remnants such as Cassiopeia A. Cas A is the second youngest supernova remnant in the Galaxy (approximately 340 years old) and is also among the brightest. It is well studied at radio, X-ray, infrared and optical wavelengths and is known to have two oppositely directed jets of ejecta with expansion velocities as high as 15,000 km/s.

Story of an IntroductionMotivating A But B• Amplifying Achievements• However………..there is a problem

What is missing ? Why ?Explicit Statement of Purpose, Scope

Carefully worded the solution we are providing

Long or Short ? For Specialist or Non-specialist?ynm iit kanpur

Story of an Introduction : Swales*Establishing the field showing centrality by

• Interest• Importance• Topic prominence• Standard procedure

Summarizing previous research

Preparing for present researchn Indicating a gapn Raising Questionsn Extending a finding

Introducing present research:Purpose, Scope and Result

ynm iit kanpur *J. Swales, Aspects of Article Introductions, Aston ESP Research, 1981

Information Ordering : PrinciplesFrom Known to New • Known Framework helps carve out the space• New information must snugly fit into.

Key Words : Specialist or Non-Specialist

Topic or Purpose: Always in sight

Long or Short ? For Specialist or Non-specialist?ynm iit kanpur

Information Ordering : TechniquesFrom Known to New • Known Framework helps carve out the space• New information must snugly fit into.

Key Words : Specialist or Non-Specialist

Topic or Purpose: Always in sight

Long or Short ? For Specailist or Non-specailist?ynm iit kanpur

What is a Noun Phrase?

Any noun or noun-plus-modifier combination (or pronoun) that can function as the subject or object of a sentence.

Example :

We are sending your organization the new controller model on the assumption that you need better accuracy.

Noun phrases carry most of the information.

ynm iit kanpur

Three Criteria for Noun Phrases

Given NP à New NP

Topical in Subject Position

Light NP à Heavy NP

May not be possible to satisfy at the same time.

ynm iit kanpur

Example :Noun Phrases as Subject & Object

Any noun or noun-plus-modifier combination (or pronoun) that can function as the subject or object of a sentence.

Example :

We are sending your organization the new controller model on the assumption that you need better accuracy.

Subject, Direct Object, Indirect Object, Object of Preposition

ynm iit kanpur

Given NP à New NP

The 5-year plan does not indicate a clearly defined commitment tolong-range environmental research. For instance, where the plandoes address long-range research, the subject is the developmentof techniques rather than the identification and definition ofimportant long-range issues.

Which one is harder to understand?.

ynm iit kanpur

The 5-year plan does not indicate a clearly defined commitment tolong-range environmental research. For instance, the developmentof techniques rather than the identification and definition ofimportant long-range issues is the subject of the plan where it doesaddress the long-range research.

Topical Information in the Subject Position

Example?.

ynm iit kanpur

A sentence or a paragraph may have several known noun phrasesand cause confusion regarding how to order them. Which one shouldbe used first? Of course, the one which is close to the topic beingtalked about.

Light NP à Heavy NP

We have sent a leak test detectorto the research, development and maintenance unit in

Bangalore.

Obvious, but helps to keep in mind?.

ynm iit kanpur

We have received and acted upon requests for testing equipment fromseveral of our laboratories. We have sent research, development andmaintenance unit in Bangalore a leak test detector.

Direct object

Object of preposition

How to satisfy these criteria?

Given NP à New NP

Topical in Subject Position

Light NP à Heavy NP

Normally the context suggests the strategy.

ynm iit kanpur

Passive – Active Shift

Equivalent NP Shift

Indirect Object Shift

Passive ßà Active

The first point contact diode was invented by

Where to use which one?.

ynm iit kanpur

J C Bose invented the first point contact diode.

Equivalent Shift

One major form of pollution is air pollution.

Caution: the NPs may not be equivalent?.

ynm iit kanpur

Air pollution is one major form of pollution.

Indirect Object Shift

We are sending a copy to all the Departments and Interdisciplinaryprogrammes.

Changing indirect object to object to a preposition?.

ynm iit kanpur

We are sending all the Departments and Interdisciplinaryprogrammes a copy.

Wait for Part - 2

More Examples on Clarity

Continuity or Flow

Editing For Emphasis

ynm iit kanpur