I have an embarassing confession to make: After decades of writing in English (and years of teaching scientific writing), I still struggle with possessives. A possessive is the ‘s or the of that you put…
Browsing Category Writing
A Scientific Writing Tracker to reach your goals
Like many scientists, you might frequently underestimate the time it takes to write a paper. This is a common error, which often causes chaos in the writing process and leads to disappointment and decreased motivation….
Mixups unmixed: ‘Farther’ from Reality or ‘Further’ from Truth?
Hello, hello! Welcome back to your favorite word workout – “Mixups Unmixed!” Every month, I bring you a new set of word pairs that scientists tend to mix up. Your mission, should you choose to…
Mixups unmixed: Is it ‘Critique’, or ‘Criticism’?
Gling gling! Back again with another chance to flex those vocabulary muscles: Welcome to another edition of “Mixups Unmixed!” Let’s dive deep into the world of words that leave scientists scratching their heads. Can you…
The courage to write ugly first drafts
In the odyssey of scientific writing, writing the first draft of a paper can be a tormented journey. In this post, I’d like to propose the idea of writing “ugly” first drafts. Precisely, you will discover…
5 books on writing every scientist should read
Writing is a craft that every scientist must learn. And what better way to learn a skill than from a good book? In this post, I list five reference books on writing, my favorite books…