Writing skills workshopDr Ronnie Scott

ronnie-scott.com

9.30-10.50:Key messages, key people, the most effective channels

11.10-12.30:From academic texts to clear writing

13.30-14.30: Writing for the web

Messages, audiences

My research proved …My analysis established …My work provides a new proven method for …My findings revealed …

Academic leadersIndustry leadersThought leadersTop conferencesLeading journalsBest networksFunds and prizesTop employers

Joining the dots

Writing skills workshopDr Ronnie Scott

ronnie-scott.com

9.30-10.50:Key messages, key people, the most effective channels

11.10-12.30:From academic texts to clear writing

13.30-14.30: Writing for the web

www.ronnie-scott.com

Ten guidelines

Know your audienceKnow your purposePlan your structureKeep sentences short and simpleKeep paragraphs short and cogent

Use active, not passive, verbs

Avoid hanging participlesAvoid nominalisationsCheck grammar, spelling and punctuationTest your writing on other people

1 Know your audience

Imagine yourself in the position of your audienceWhat are their needs and expectations?What are their motivations?

How could you research this?

2 Know your purpose

What outcome do you want from your writing?What do you want the reader to do next?

How could you establish this?

3 Plan your structure

Begin with your Unique Selling PointsEach sentence follows logically from the one beforeThe writing builds to a call to action

How could you ensure this?

4 Keep sentences short

Use simpler wordsCut unnecessary words

Examples >>

How could you ensure this?

Use simpler wordsaccomplish >>ascertaindisseminateendeavorexpeditefacilitateformulatein lieu oflocalityoptimumstrategizeutilize

dofind outsend out, distributetryhasten, speed upmake easier, helpwork out, devise, forminstead ofplacebest, greatest, mostplanuse

– www.web.net/~plain/PlainTrain/UsingAppropriateWords.html

Cut unnecessary wordswith regard to >>by means ofin the event thatuntil such timeduring such timein respect ofin view of the facton the part ofsubsequent tounder the provisions ofwith a view toit would appear thatit is probable thatnotwithstanding the fact thatadequate number ofexcessive number of

aboutbyifuntilwhileforbecausebyafterundertoapparentlyprobablyalthoughenoughtoo many

– www.web.net/~plain/PlainTrain/UsingAppropriateWords.html

5 Keep paragraphs briefVary the length of your paragraphs, but always keep them shortEach paragraph should contain related sentences

How could you ensure this?

6 Use active verbs

Customers are believed to have reduced their annual spending This result is understood to be correctThe report will be published soon

We believe that customer have reduced their annual spendingWe understand that this result is correctWe will publish the report soon

7 Avoid hanging intros

Being a recent book, Ivy should have heard of itBefore reaching the station, the sun came outLooking out the window, the cow was eating grass

Rushing to finish the paper, Bob’s printer brokeFlying across the country, Perth came into viewWithout knowing his name, it was hard to call him

8 Avoid nominalisationsthe use of >>the avoidance ofthe clarification ofthe improvement ofthe provision ofthe recognition ofthe realisation ofthe management of

to useto avoidto clarifyto improveto provideto recogniseto realiseto manage

A seedy exampleMany Australian plant species produce seeds with fleshy appendages called elaiosomes. It was hypothesised that elaiosomes are involved in the dispersal of seeds by ants. To test this hypothesis, the removal of seeds with elaiosomes was compared to seeds from which the elaiosome had been removed and observations were made to confirm that the agents of seed removal were indeed ants. It was found that the removal of seeds with elaiosomes was significantly greater than those without elaiosomes. Observations of the seed removal process confirmed that ants were the only agents of seed removal.

How could you revise this to change the highlighted nouns to verbs? Any other changes?

– http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/3b.html

9 Check grammar etc

Check grammar

Check spelling

Check punctuation

What resources could we use?

10 Test your writing

Have an office writing buddyHave a virtual writing buddy

How else could we test our writing for clarity and effect?

Test your skillsThe truly vital importance of this original, ground-breaking research must not be misunderstood. Being unique, readers must take notice of it’s formal results, it’s truly innovative and original and new research methods, and how it examines the discourse and tropes of international and interpersonal economic forces. The authors are to be praised for they’re dedication to the clarification of linguistic tortuousness. And they’re recognition that modes of cognition reflect and privilege dominant ideologies.The most eminent provision of this research will ultimately be recognised to be the exposition of the on-going dialectic between the diametrically opposed polar extremes of the visible light spectrum. The producers of this research adumbrate that that, for every instance of their obfuscated linguistic exercise, the absence of illumination is equal to the lack of colour.

Test your skills

We should appreciate the importance of this original research. Readers should note the valuable results and the innovative research methods, and the examination of economic forces. We should thank the authors for their clear writing, and for recognising that culture influences thinking.Specifically, the authors argue that black is white.

Writing skills workshopDr Ronnie Scott

ronnie-scott.com

9.30-10.50:Key messages, key people, the most effective channels

11.10-12.30:From academic texts to clear writing

13.30-14.30: Writing for the web

Scanning, not reading

Writing for the web

Glasgow Necropolis, a neglected part of the city’s heritage, could be the latest tourist attraction, according to Dr Ronnie Scott.

His research into the origins of the Necropolis shows that the people who made Glasgow the Second City of the Empire also laid out Scotland’s first garden cemetery.

The cemetery, and their monuments there, reproduce the Victorian grandeur that gave the city its distinctive architecture. It is Victorian Glasgow in miniature, with monuments designed by the leading architects of the day, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander “Greek” Thomson.

Dr Scott’s research is of interest to a number of groups:• Tourist bosses will be grateful for a new attraction;• Historians have been given an insight into Victorian beliefs;• Architects will be happy to see works by famous colleagues;• Family historians will welcome the records that have been unearthed.

If you want to know more about the history of the Necropolis, you can buy Dr Scott’s book, Death by Design: The True Story of the Glasgow Necropolis (Edinburgh: Black & White, 2005), or visit his web site at www.ronnie-scott.com

Researcher brings city of the dead back to life

Identifying benefits

My research proves that X sector can profitably expand its Y activitiesMy findings challenge the established way of doing Z

My thesis provides solid evidence that A managers can B with confidenceMy work gives C teams a proven strategy to improve their D

www.ronnie-scott.com