Tài liệu Mastering the craft of science writing part 13 ppt

ceivably,” “possibly,” “very possibly,” “probably,” “likely,”

“very likely,” and “almost certainly.” Does the evidence

“imply,” “suggest,” “demonstrate,” “show,” or “prove”?

Deploy such words with care.

Explain as needed, not sooner and not later, not more and

not less. If the article’s structure is right, the subject will un￾furl like a morning glory, example/case and explanations in￾extricably mingled. Avoid any long patches of bald theory

(“First you must understand the uncertainty principle ... ”).

Too many readers won’t make it through.

Inexperienced science writers tend to overexplain, which

is natural. Photographers love photographs that required

them to wait in the rain for twelve hours, and writers love

explanations that cost them a big intellectual struggle. It’s the

hazing principle: If something was hard yet we persisted, we

think it must have extra value—as it does, of course. Nothing

you learn is ever wasted.

Your harvest need not appear in the manuscript, however.

Rather, you will often use your new, deeper understanding

to craft an explanation that keeps the idea moving forward

and is true as far as it goes.You will become very fond of

phrases like “one of several molecules that do such-and-so.”

If a technical term will come up one time only, silently

translate into something your key reader can get, like “a

special type of immune cell” or “an icy belt at the outskirts

of the solar system where astronomers believe most comets

form.”

In general, unless you are writing as a scientific specialist

to others in the field, translation is always the way to go.

Why say “catalyze” when you can say something active and

specific, like “triggers the [whatever]” or “stimulates the

which to what”? Even the many readers who know what

catalysis is (if they stop to think for a second) will benefit

from the translation. It saves their willingness to concentrate

for any material that really could be tough.

If you will need a technical term again, as shorthand for

an idea that will return, explain it in passing, as in this

unassuming little passage by Nathan Seppa in Science News

(September 22, 2001, p. 182; I have italicized the parts you

should especially notice):

Ideas

into

Words

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