Now that we've talked about common pitfalls on writing about science for the general public, we'll consider possible venues to consider when writing for the general public. We'll discuss blogs and blog's big cousin, the general information article, op-ed, commentaries, and letters to the editor, and finally, writing a book. Let's start with blogs. Now the first thing I think about with blogs is that they don't mean today what they did 10 years ago. Originally, blogs were thought to be more like a public-facing diary article. But since then, they've evolved and professional blogs are an excellent entry point into writing for the general public. Although you can start your own blog and build a following for your writing that way, it never hurts to reach out to blog editors and to pitch stories. That way, you can reach a wider audience initially and also receive some valuable editorial feedback as you get started. What makes a blog, a blog? Let's go over the anatomy of a good public-facing article or blog. Hello, everyone. In this video, we're going to look at the anatomy of a blog article written for the general public. Here's an article that I recently wrote on science communication. The first thing to note, and this is linked in the resources section as if you scroll down, you see this is generally a fairly short article. It's about a 1,000 words long. We also know that there are several short paragraphs. They're not necessarily long paragraphs, and then these are only a sentence or two long. Much like we've talked about throughout this course, it starts with some hook or a teaser that brings in. I start this article off by saying, I've been always fascinated by how things work and referencing a very famous Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood episode, as well as including a hyperlink to it for people who haven't seen it, that how crayons were made. I use that to build a relationship with the reader first and foremost and then you use that to bring them in, so that they want to keep reading and getting to the point right away. When we think about communicating with the general public like we've talked about in other parts of this module, we want to introduce the point at the very beginning and that's different from a lot of scientific or academic articles. When we're communicating with the general public, we want to get right to the point. We have the hook right up here at the top, talking about crayons and then it's getting into the sausage analogy, which I come back to many times throughout. Then getting at the key point, which is how the COVID-19 pandemic has been a golden opportunity for science communication. I make this sausage analogy here. If you read through this article, you'll see that I come back to it many times throughout. When we get to the end, I close with a call to action because I want to keep the engagement going after people read the article, so that they begin to elaborate what they read later and really integrate it into their thought. You'll also notice, especially using that sausage analogy throughout, that it helps to create that story arc. There's a hook that brings you in. There's a conflict that's presented about science communication and then we resolve the conflict at the end with these recommendations about how, and what, and when we talk about science. The other important thing to notice about this is that I don't use a lot of academic language, there's no passive voice. When we think about the tone on this, the tone is conversational. It's relatable. There's no jargon. I mentioned some scientific research, so you can see I've hyperlinked out here an hyperlink tier. Know how to use the hyperlinks within the formal citation. There's ways to bring in research and ways to present that research. But it's done in a slightly different way because this is intended to be conversational, relatable. It's intended to be something someone can skim through, hence these short paragraphs as well. The use of bolding. Then if people want more information, that's why it helps to have the hyperlinks included as well. Keep in mind that the example we just looked at is only one way of doing a blog. There are lots of great approaches. One thing that people really like are articles called listicles, like this one. This article offers five focus areas for improving racial equity in the classroom. Listicles are particularly nice for helping people skim through your article. That's also why having the bolded phrases in short paragraphs is important as well in a blog. There are also a variety of techniques for hooking your reader into an article. You can start with a quote, like I do here in this article. Or maybe it opens with a question a debate, a controversy, or a practical problem. For example, this article opens with an open-ended question and then introduces the debate and on the value of technology and education. Personal stories that illustrate an issue that you really care about can also make excellent blog articles like I do in this article that discusses gender inequity in the sciences. When considering writing a blog article, what do you want to read and why? What style attracts you? Do you like reading listicles? Do you like personal stories? Do you like that news that you can use? What about an article that makes you want to read to the end? Think about something that you want to read and write that way. What is the story you want to tell and how do you want to do it? Blogs are a great gateway into writing longer pieces for established magazines or publications. For example, if you're affiliated with a university, you can write for the conversation. Major magazines like Scientific American gets source material from the conversation. Although blog articles are relatively short, typically around 1,000 words, it's possible to write larger pieces that may appear in print. Writing for a major publication involves a more intensive pitching process. Sometimes periodicals will also publish suggestions for how to best pitch your article. For example, publications may describe types of articles that they like to publish. Maybe they focus on timely articles about some current science issue or timeless articles, wherever there's a certain angle or theme that they like to publish. One important consideration for pitching to a major publication or anything, that comes under a newspaper, don't wait. It's only in academia where it takes months, if not years, between pitching to an editor and publication. When one calls for articles appear years before the actual publication occurs. In the real world and especially in the media, things move much faster than the universities. If you have an idea for a time-sensitive article, don't wait, get it out immediately. Practice writing blogs, practice making those pitches, so when the right opportunity presents itself, you're ready to go and can move quickly. When someone calls you and invites you to write something or be interviewed for a publication, call them back immediately. Don't miss out on your opportunity, by thinking that everything moves as slowly outside the academy as it does inside. Op-eds, letters to the editor, essays, or commentaries is another great way to get your foot in the door with major publications. These are typically short and submitted in a timely fashion. This is an easy way to get your voice heard on a large scale. People start to associate your name with your area of expertise. It can also serve as proof that yes, you can write or speak intelligently to the general public. Good letters to the editor a very short, short enough that they can actually be sent in the body of an email. Attachments don't always get open, so you always want to make sure you put things in the email body itself. Op-ed or opposite editorial commentaries or essays are specific portions of a publication where someone can express their opinion. These exist in a wide range of publications, including everything from the New York Times to practitioner journals like The American Biology Teacher, especially articles like The Working Life Section of Science Magazine. It's worth keeping your eyes out for these opportunities. They're a unique chance to reach a large audience that speak informally in your own voice on an issue that you really care about. Since these are technical pieces either, it's also an excellent opportunity to practice writing for the general public while you build your name recognition. Length will vary depending on what publication you're targeting. But these are typically around 800 words of newspaper or on one formatted page, it's about 1500 words in a magazine. What about writing a book? If you want to write a book, it's important to be very strategic and think carefully about how it fits in with your overall goal. Because writing a book is not a profitable endeavor. If you publish independently, you'll be fronting several thousands of your own dollars to edit, design, and print it, not counting all the hours the time you spent editing it and writing it. Biology Everywhere was independently published, and although it fits into the 20 percent of books that sell more than 100 copies in their first year, to date, I haven't made enough sales to completely repay my investment in it. That said, it has opened amazing doors, but as you'll read about next, I had an ulterior motive for publishing Biology Everywhere. Well, what if you get a publisher? It's very unlikely that you ever sell enough books to pay your advanced back. That said, if you have an idea that you want to share with the world that you think people will really benefit from, please, by all means, do so. But carefully consider your audience. Why would someone want to spend money on your book? You'll need to know this either to pitch to agents or for marketing your book if you do decide to self-publish. It comes back to that theme that we've repeated throughout this module, know your audience. Why would someone want to buy your book? What did they get from it? Although many people convert a doctoral dissertation into a book, why would anybody want to buy it? How can you make it into a story that people will want to read? In closing, a key point to remember when writing for the general public, regardless of if you're writing a 200 word letter to the editor or a 50,000 word novel, who is your audience? What is your point for writing? What is that take-home message you want to get across? Are you building a name for yourself? Are you trying to educate the community about an important aspect of science? Are you trying to learn a new skill? Are you trying to change your career? Most importantly, don't forget to keep trying, pieces will get rejected. Editors will pass on something you pitch to them. Like anything else, especially in the science, every time you fail, you build on those failures so that you can improve. Writing is like any other skill. It takes time, it takes practice, and it takes failure to get to success. What are you going to try to write first?
