... arestill standing, beautified with lofty church-towers, wherein religiousworship is performed according to the Christian institution. It is lastlyinhabited by five different nations, the Britons, ... had finished the building ofthe city, he made choice of the citizens that were to inhabit it, and prescribed them laws for theirpeaceable government. At this time Eli the priest governed in Judea, ... ships, and give theircompanions an account of this country and city. Then they advised theirleader to go to the city, and after offering sacrifices, to inquire of the deity ofthe place, what...
... 76Index At the other extreme, you can limit your writing time,which is my present approach, since I no longer go to an of- fice. I tell myself I am going to write for one hour and thenstop. I ... writing.On the conceptual level, try this idea: Writing is like base-ball in that what matters is the batting average, not the indi-vidual at-bat. Face it: Not everything you write will be great.In ... termpapers, 132–133; defined, xii, 46;fear of, xii; and public service,4–5, 80Scientist: maverick, 18–19; rela-tionship with writer, 6, 45–47Scientists mentioned in passing:Julius Axelrod, 43; Steven...
... anidea of which I was reminded by the word “flob” in the lastitem. Did you know what I meant by flob? I am sure youdid. Is the word in the current Random House dictionary?No, it is not. Is there ... speech, practiceeditorial pruning. Rewrite as you listen. (I sometimes usedto “type” the leaner version with my toes inside my shoes,an invisible form of fidgeting.) In this way your face willlook ... smart. The reader is smart. . . . ”“Fifty percent of everything I am teaching you is wrong. The trouble is, I don’t know which 50 percent.” The greatBritish physician Sir William Osler said that...
... Cataloging-in-Publication DataHancock, Elise.Ideas into words: mastering the craft of science writing / Elise Hancock.p. cm.ISBN 0-8018-7329-0 — ISBN 0-8018-7330-41. Technical writing. I. Title.T11 ... record for this book is available from the British Library. As I stepped into her of ce, I found Elise in her deskchair, bent over a page of manuscript rolled up into hertypewriter. She didn’t look ... one ofthe little piecesshe wrote herself.What, she wanted to know, did I think of it?Oh, it was fine, I too quickly said after reading it, thenpaused. I was a freelance writer, ofthe perpetually...
... wrote not to specialists or other scientistsbut to Elise’s “educated curious”; this made it “science writ-ing,” not “scientific writing” or “technical writing.” Sciencewriting is so hard to do ... shake off the high intimidation quotient of adense, jargon-laden article in the Proceedings ofthe National Acad-emy of Sciences. Elise was a member of this breed; she was anEnglish major in ... to the wisdom ofthe writerly injunctionsyou’ll find in these pages because at times I ve ignored themall. For example, Do not confuse a topic with a story idea. That’s justwhat I did once with...
... write nonfiction, whether “science writing” or anyother kind, is an act of intimacy.You are inviting the reader into your world—into your mind, no less. As yourclose companion, the reader will ... addressing your reader in chapter 4,on the process of writing.Do not let scientists intimidate you; you will find themquite congenial. In my observation, the temperaments aresimilar. Both scientists ... withyou, mind to mind and spirit to spirit, is partof what read-ers seek.As I write this book, I have been a professional writer formore than thirty years, and I still have moments when I think,...
... things I say in this book. But you’d heareach one with variations, in the context of specific pieces of writing, and in the form of coaching, not general principles.By imitation, you’d also pick ... better. If the joy of it outweighs the pain—you’re a writer.Many people, including many who make their living aswriters, find it hard to write without some outside galvaniz-ing force—a deadline, ... distractions of yourhome.All that said, do not fuss over your of ce instead of writ-ing. Write. That is so important, I ll say it again:Above all,WRITE. Writing is what writers do. At parties,people...
... worth writing and reading—something interesting.“Interesting” is the sole criterion. The process is rather like fishing.You put your line whereyou think the fish may be, and if something tugs, ... did it for their own use in sharing data, software, andcomputer power; the incentive was not economic but intel-lectual. Likewise, the fundamental genetic discoveries, in-cluding the basic ... the rest of us, ideas spark each other off, showing theirfull size only as they connect. Sometimes it’s hard to knowwhat you think till someone asks the right question or offersone more tidbit...
... watching, poised to spring into actionwhen the moment arrives.IdeasintoWords42 any domain. If not a scientist, is this person a protagonist insome important issue? The peril ofthe special ... attitude: The science writer and the scientist are allies, sharing acommitment to science and the public understandingthereof—upon which depend future funding and essen-tial political decisions. ... canbe irresistible—though the reflex cynicism of a more experi-enced reporter is quite as bad. In either case, the reportercannot think straight.Infatuation passes, but if you have to write in the...
... the conversation off in the rightdirection at the right level, and it should be a big fat juicyone, right over the middle ofthe plate—something the sci-entist can hit out ofthe ballpark.You ... taken off) will nothurt. For women, the specifics of “appropriate” vary wildlyover time: do the right thing.Having taken care of all important trivia, you can nowbegin the interview with no ... the Interview59 In preparing your questions, stay simple and straightfor-ward, like Bill Moyers.Your purpose is to elicit the livelyexplanations you need for the piece, not to impress the sci-entist...