One of the things nobody told me when I started editing (although, in hindsight, maybe it should have been obvious) is that there would be certain aspects of writing that I would find myself harping on over and over again. Some of this discovery has likely been due to some of my own preferences as a writer and reader (no one ever really tells you either that editing can be highly personal—in both good and bad ways). Still, regardless of my own inclinations or tastes, there are some common characteristics of technical writing that I have noticed, regardless of the type of manuscript or the discipline.
So, to start off this blog, it seemed like a good idea to begin exploring some of the common trends that I often see in manuscripts across very different disciplines, and also some of the ways that authors can take charge of their writing—even at the stage of the rough draft. Some of these recommendations do relate to common errors, but some of these are also aimed at helping writers to continue building squarely on already solid foundations. In addition, while some of these topics probably will stray into the realm of basic mechanics, the goal of this series is to zoom out a little bit and place those seemingly nitpicky issues within the broader context of crafting a complex narrative. Clickbait title aside, this is hopefully an opportunity to take a broad look from the other side of the writing process at some fundamental habits critical to creating good narratives around research in any domain.
This post will also function as an informal Table of Contents to the series as it takes shape over the next few weeks, so for now, I will merely list below the topics that I plan to cover. As the series progresses, this list will include links to the individual posts for the sake of easy navigation. For now, though, here is my list of 5 Things Your Editor Wants You to Know:
- Consistency, Consistency, Consistency
- Conquering the Thesaurus
- Organizational Foundations
- Narrative Arc
- Conclusions: Where do we go from here?
The plan is to release one of these posts per week. I have enjoyed the exercise in formulating and organizing some of the larger thoughts and operating principles that I have been working from over the past several years (but which I haven’t had a need or incentive to explicitly articulate), and look forward to sharing some of these ideas with you.
