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Any Grad Students/Scientists/Technical Writers?

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cass:
Are there any grad students or writers of technical/scientific papers on the board who want to discuss what helps them get their thoughts down?

(It's not *quite* the same as writing fictional works....but I don't think it's so different that it shouldn't be in this section of the boards....)

I'm in the middle of my dissertation, and I'm finding it helpful to write as though I'm explaining it to an outsider to the field....

Blaze:
I was a tech writer for about 20 years.  Did museum exhibits, plumbing and zoning codes, landmarks preservation law, hazmat regs, and National Register nominations. 

In all those disciplines, you have to write as if you are explaining to someone outside the field, and also be clear not to leave loopholes or ambiguities that could possibly be exploited (Plumbing code, Zoning an Preservation law.)  Hazmat regs need to be written so a fourth grader can understand them. 

What is your dissertation on?

Ulfgeir:
At work, we have had some discussions about how to write the documentation/guides for our systems.  We ended up with a documentation is for us technicians, and a guide is for the users. I don't quite agree with such a clear distinction, as you often also need guides for technicians.

The differences is basically that the documentation contains more info about about how things are set up, while the guides are supposed to contain pictures and clearer descriptions on how to do something. And yes it is a fine line between writing a guide such that you write it as a refresher for someone who knows what they are doing, and a step-by-step instruction for someone who doesn't know anything on how to use a computer. Yes we have some users like that...

/Ulfgeir

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
Working research associate here, fifteen post-PhD years of working as a scientist.

how I do academic writing appears to be slowly and with extreme psychological discomfort, largely because it feels so damaging of all the things I have learned for writing fiction.  I appear to be quite good at explaining things directly to people in small numbers though.  (I work on the interface between computers and molecular biology, so i do a lot of explaining concepts from one discipline to people trained in the other.)

cass:

--- Quote from: Blaze on April 02, 2014, 05:55:16 PM ---I was a tech writer for about 20 years.  Did museum exhibits, plumbing and zoning codes, landmarks preservation law, hazmat regs, and National Register nominations. 

In all those disciplines, you have to write as if you are explaining to someone outside the field, and also be clear not to leave loopholes or ambiguities that could possibly be exploited (Plumbing code, Zoning an Preservation law.)  Hazmat regs need to be written so a fourth grader can understand them. 

What is your dissertation on?

--- End quote ---

I'm writing about the controlling factors for the shapes of (river) deltas in map view-- basically, why the Mississippi Delta has a very different shape when seen from above than the Nile than the Ganges-Brahmaputra than the Indus.  I'm trying to add numbers to a qualitative classification system that's been in use for ~40 years to help try to drag the field kicking and screaming into the new millennium.

Since this is probably only going to be read by people in my field (if at all--I am under no illusions as to the wider appeal of this project), I probably don't have to worry about leaving loopholes-- but I suppose my committee is liable to willfully misinterpret!

"Slowly and with extreme psychological discomfort" is a very apt phrase....

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