Science Writing and Editing

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00:00:07.10 Hello, I’m Chris Tachibana
00:00:09.15 and I’m a science writer and editor.
00:00:12.12 I have a part-time position with
00:00:13.29 GroupHealth Research Institute in Seattle
00:00:16.18 and the rest of my work is freelance writing and editing.
00:00:19.19 And so I’d like to talk about that as a job and a career.
00:00:24.01 About six years ago,
00:00:25.15 mainly motivated by uncertain academic funding
00:00:28.21 but also by the realization that my most successful
00:00:32.06 and satisfying projects were about writing,
00:00:36.01 I switched from teaching undergraduate biology classes
00:00:39.18 and working in a research lab
00:00:41.13 to full-time writing and editing.
00:00:44.05 If you’re interested in a similar transition,
00:00:46.25 I thought of five questions to consider
00:00:49.24 and I have a list of resources on the last slide.
00:00:54.19 The first question to ask yourself is:
00:00:56.26 do you think that you would like to work with words
00:00:58.28 all-day and everyday?
00:01:01.12 And remember that you have to work at a big picture level.
00:01:05.25 Taking scientific concepts and making them interesting
00:01:09.08 and understandable to a particular audience.
00:01:12.11 And if you have to make information part of a compelling story
00:01:15.13 and that’s true whether you’re working on a news release
00:01:18.17 or helping people with papers for academic journals.
00:01:23.03 You also have to do detail work.
00:01:25.25 So fixing grammar and spelling and fact checking.
00:01:29.18 You have to hit deadlines and make hard word limits,
00:01:34.25 even if that means taking some text that you really like
00:01:38.17 and cutting a third of it without changing the content.
00:01:43.11 The next question is about freelancing.
00:01:47.01 So even if your ultimate goal is to be an employee
00:01:50.06 for an institution or organization,
00:01:52.29 freelancing can get you experience and contacts.
00:01:57.01 It can also be a good way to do a soft opening of your new career,
00:02:01.03 you can do a little work on the side while you keep your current job.
00:02:05.03 The advantage of freelancing is what everybody says -
00:02:08.26 tremendous independence.
00:02:10.21 You often get to work where and when you want,
00:02:13.01 and in your pajamas if you feel like it.
00:02:15.12 But you are not entirely your own boss
00:02:17.22 because you have to meet the demands
00:02:19.03 and the deadlines of your clients.
00:02:22.08 You will also be running a small business
00:02:25.00 which most scientists are not trying to think about.
00:02:29.04 So even if you are the only employee,
00:02:31.14 you have to do business things
00:02:33.08 like marketing and invoicing and meeting requirements
00:02:36.29 about taxes and licensing.
00:02:40.08 Also think about the financial consequences
00:02:43.02 of having a monthly income that varies.
00:02:47.09 Now to reassure you,
00:02:48.09 I didn’t know any of this when I started
00:02:50.06 and I was able to figure it out by reading
00:02:52.20 and talking to experts and hiring people
00:02:55.20 and I have a list of resources
00:02:57.01 on the last slide to get you started.
00:03:00.27 If this sounds interesting, then here’s some more questions.
00:03:05.07 Would you like to be writing or editing or both?
00:03:07.24 Because some people have a strong preference for one or the other.
00:03:11.11 Either way, it helps if you can be versatile
00:03:14.07 and work in a variety of styles and formats and topics.
00:03:19.24 Also think about if you have other skills
00:03:22.09 that would be useful for an employer or a client.
00:03:27.06 So maybe you have some expertise in graphics
00:03:29.18 or web production or social media.
00:03:33.19 The next question is if you want to take
00:03:35.28 a targeted or a shotgun approach.
00:03:38.20 Some of my science writer friends decided early in their career
00:03:42.01 to focus on a particular topic like neuroscience or personal health
00:03:46.24 or certain types of projects like writing books.
00:03:50.26 That requires a targeted approach
00:03:53.27 and you have to be selective about the work you take on
00:03:56.22 because you want to build your brand as a specialist.
00:04:00.09 I took a shotgun approach,
00:04:02.23 so now I write for biotechnology magazines and science websites
00:04:07.12 and I edit grant applications
00:04:09.24 and I help people with government white papers
00:04:12.09 and I like the variety.
00:04:15.14 To get started, you need contacts.
00:04:19.00 So tell your friends and your family
00:04:21.16 and your colleagues that you’re interested in science writing and editing
00:04:24.21 and ask if they know anybody that you could talk to.
00:04:28.27 You’re not looking for potential clients at this point,
00:04:32.13 you’re just getting information and contacts.
00:04:36.26 Go to meetings in your field
00:04:38.18 but just also general writing meetings
00:04:40.22 and even journalism workshops and seminars.
00:04:45.01 Talk to people and give them your business card
00:04:48.06 and ask them what they do and how they got started
00:04:50.28 and if there’s anybody that they know that you can talk to.
00:04:54.13 The goal is just networking.
00:04:57.25 Now for any job, you need a good resume or CV
00:05:01.19 so have one prepared and tailor it for the particular situation.
00:05:07.02 But even more important for writing and editing,
00:05:09.11 you need good clips which are samples
00:05:12.10 and queries which are proposal letters.
00:05:15.29 Your clips and your queries should match
00:05:18.10 as closely as possible the style
00:05:20.17 and the format of the project that you’re aiming for,
00:05:24.03 so maybe kind of informal for writing web posts
00:05:27.24 or more scholarly for working for an academic journal.
00:05:32.11 For writing samples, you can use anything.
00:05:35.01 So something you wrote for a class or for a newsletter
00:05:38.16 or if you don’t have something, you can generate it.
00:05:42.02 So for example, if you wanted to work for Nature,
00:05:44.29 you could take one of their recent papers
00:05:46.24 and write your own News and Views-type summary
00:05:50.17 in the proper style and format and length,
00:05:53.22 just to show them what you can do.
00:05:58.19 If you’re interested in writing feature articles,
00:06:02.09 look for the contributor guidelines in the media source
00:06:05.27 that you’re targeting and follow the instructions for contacting the editor.
00:06:10.12 Your query which is basically your cover letter
00:06:13.26 will contain one or two tempting paragraphs
00:06:17.02 that are basically a draft of the article you are proposing.
00:06:21.09 Be sure to match the style and format
00:06:24.01 and also include enough detail
00:06:27.20 to show just how fascinating this article will be
00:06:30.20 to the audience of the media source you want to write for.
00:06:35.23 For editing, you can make a sample
00:06:37.15 of a couple of paragraphs that you edited,
00:06:40.08 showing the before and the after versions,
00:06:43.19 to highlight how you took some text
00:06:46.03 and made it more grammatically correct and clear and concise.
00:06:50.03 Get the permission from all the authors of course.
00:06:53.28 And again, match the style of the project you’re aiming for.
00:06:58.12 Now also for scientific editing,
00:07:00.12 a good way to figure out if this is something you’d like to do
00:07:04.00 and also make a little money,
00:07:06.09 is to work for a science editing service.
00:07:09.15 Look for these in the author instruction sections of journals in your field.
00:07:15.01 Many of them now link to these
00:07:16.18 scientific editing services that collect papers
00:07:19.16 usually from researchers who don’t have English as their first language
00:07:23.26 and the company sends these out to freelance editors
00:07:26.02 who correct them and send them back.
00:07:28.03 So contact a few and see if they’re hiring.
00:07:31.13 If you want to work for a reasonably large organization,
00:07:35.10 they might ask you to take a writing or an editing test.
00:07:39.18 And don’t be discouraged if you get ignored or you get rejected.
00:07:44.05 If appropriate, just politely ask for feedback
00:07:47.04 and then rework your samples and your queries
00:07:49.29 and send them somewhere else.
00:07:52.26 So my last piece of advice is if you are at all interested in this,
00:07:57.17 just give it a try.
00:08:00.00 Be sure to follow local and national requirements
00:08:02.21 about licensing and taxes,
00:08:04.18 but for me, transitioning from being an academic scientist
00:08:08.17 to being a writer and an editor
00:08:11.10 was not as daunting as I thought it would be
00:08:13.06 and it was a great career move.
00:08:15.18 Here are some resources to get you started.
00:08:19.01 For networking,
00:08:20.07 I highly recommend the National Association of Science Writers
00:08:23.10 and their local chapters.
00:08:25.12 The books Field Guide for Science Writers
00:08:27.24 and Science Writer’s Handbook have terrific practical advice.
00:08:32.15 Medical writing is a particular type of work
00:08:35.20 often creating define documents for example for a regulatory agency
00:08:40.10 and you can find out more
00:08:41.15 from the American Medical Writers Association and their local chapters.
00:08:47.16 Nolo has excellent layperson’s information about self-employment
00:08:52.19 and then Science at AAAS for whom I do some work
00:08:56.16 has great resources about non-research careers.
00:09:00.24 Good luck!

This Talk

Speaker: Chris Tachibana

Audience:

Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: February 2011

Talk Overview

Speaking from her own experience, Tachibana gives solid advice on becoming a freelance science writer or editor. She outlines some of the decisions to be made and steps to be taken, while providing her own insights, as well as useful contacts and references, to get you started in science writing.

Speaker Bio

Chris Tachibana

Chris Tachibana was a research scientist and instructor for 17 years before deciding to turn an interest in writing and editing into a full-time career. Tachibana works part-time at Group Health Research Institute and spends the rest of her time as a freelance writer and editor. She currently writes and edits feature articles on science,… Continue Reading