Popular Science Writing for Academics

Popular science writing remains a critical medium for academics to reach audiences outside of their field of expertise. From blogs, opinion pieces, to feature stories in science magazines and websites captivating writing and strong narratives are essential for engaging modern audiences. In this workshop students learn why storytelling elements like character, setting and plot are critical for translating scientific information and how to apply them to their own work. Common mistakes and habits from academic writing styles are discussed and students learn how to avoid and break them through a combination of lecture and writing exercises. At the end of the course students will have written two short pieces that introduce and explain their research using strong characters and narratives rather than dry, boring data. They will also have the skills and confidence to start their own blog, write engaging copy for websites, pitch/write stories for science media outlets and improve their academic writing.