SCIENCE WRITING

LALAINE P. JABILLO
SCIENCE WRITING
is the latest form of Philippine Journalism.
A science writer should be able to communicate
clearly and effectively so that he can popularize
and translate scientific reports into stories.
Science News Writing Covers:
 Science News Reporting
 Is science writing by a scientist or by a non-scientist for mass
consumption.
 His report is written for mass understanding.
 He writes his story in such a way that the science un-oriented reader
may understand and appreciate it because it is written in layman’s
language.
 He writes his story in such a way that the science un-oriented reader
may understand and appreciate it because it is written in layman’s
language.
Technical Writing vs. Non-technical Writing:
 The objective of technical writing is to emphasize hand information
 The main aim of journalistic writing is to inform, interpret, entertain, and
to educate.
 Purpose of Technical Writing
- The main purpose of technical writing is to inform and persuade
by providing facts and opinion based on facts that help readers answer
question, solve a problem, make a decision, or perform a task.
• Characteristics of Technical Writing:
 It contains only factual information presented objectively.
 All data could be verified and would not change unless new findings are
made.
 The writing depends on the author’s treatment of the subject and by the
reader’s need to useful information.
Technical subject is specialized and usually mechanical or
scientific.

 Specific Uses of Technical Writing Skills:

 Modern society is becoming highly technical
 Police and fire personnel write detailed incidents or
investigation report that must be clear enough to serve as
evidence in court.
 Nurses and medical technicians keep daily records that are
crucial to patients’ welfare particularly as bases for litigations
 Secretaries must write clear and precise memos, letters,
minutes, and reports.
 Managers write memos, personal evaluation, requisitions,
and instructions.
Writing for Readers:
 To define something – as to insurance costumer who
wants to know what variable annuity means.
 To explain something – as to a fellow teacher on how
to write a news story.
 To describe something – as to an architectural client
who wants to know what a new addition to her home
look s like.
 To persuade someone – like to an adviser of a school
paper to change page format.
Do’s and Don’ts in Technical writing
 Omit no key words
 Avoid ambiguous phrases – in technical writing, a sentence
should have one meaning only.
 Avoid over-stuffing – a sentence that crams so many ideas,
forces readers to struggle in order to get what is meant.
 Avoid un-stacked modifiers – too many nouns stacked up as
modifiers in front of another noun make for hard reading.
 Rearrange word order – just as any paragraph has a key
sentence, any sentence has a key word or phrase. For
emphasis, place the key word or phrase at the beginning or
end of the sentence.
Do’s and Don’ts in Technical writing
 Use the active voice
 Make sentences concise (brief) – a concise sentence is brief
but informative. It gets right to the point w/o clutter.
 Eliminate redundancy – avoid using phrase when a word will
do.
 Avoid needless repetition
 Avoid “there” sentence openers – save words and improve
your emphasis by avoiding “there is” and “there are” at the
beginning of the sentences.
 Avoid certain “it” sentence openers – eliminate any ”It” that
does not refer to somerthing specific.
Do’s and Don’ts in Technical writing
 Delete needless “to be” construction – forms of the verb “to
be” (is, was, are) often add clutter w/o adding meaning.
 Avoid excessive prepositions
 Use “that and “which” sparingly
 Fight noun addiction – excessive nouns make sentences
awkward and wordy
 Make negative positive – save words and get to the point by
eliminating negative construction.
 Clear out the clutter words
 Delete needless preface – get to the point. Deliver to the
point w/o a long wind-up.
Do’s and Don’ts in Technical writing
 Avoid triteness
 Avoid over-statement
 Avoid sweeping generalization
 Use specific, concrete language.