Resources: Writing

*This list is dynamic, and in-development. Feel free to make suggestions (use the comments section or contact us directly) re additional resources and great examples that should be included.

RESOURCES

See the general scicomm resources page for tips and resources on writing about numbers and data, storytelling techniques, and a lot more.

• Science Writer’s Handbook + Pitch, Publish, Prosper blog
• Terms that have different meanings for scientists & the public
• Size comparisons in science writing: Bigger than a breadbox; Small Stuff; Impossibly Vast
• Translate obscure technical measurements with Wolfram Alpha
• Carl Zimmer’s Note to Beginning Science Writers and List of Banned Words
• 8 Tips for Starting a Science Blog

INSPIRATION

• Toe Fungus and Why No One Loves a Science Writer by Erik Vance
• Joyas Volardores by Bryan Doyle – short essay that starts scientific and goes literary/personal
• The Great Giant Flea Hunt by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
• A moth, a fern, a feline: a species name story by Terry Wheeler
• Andrews Forest Quartet – by Alison Hawthorne Deming – and more from writers-in-residence at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in The Forest Log
• Conserving Quebec’s caribou – award-winning series about caribou researchers by Bethann G. Merkle
• Clappers – essay by David Gessner in the excellent literary journal Ecotone: Reimagining Place
• A crappy little bastard that tastes great – dealing with invasive species by eating them, by Erik Vance
• Consider the Lobster – a funny and informative essay that tackles ethics, too, by David Foster Wallace
• New species at risk book written in indigenous languages by GNWT departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Education, Culture and Employment, and the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board (illustrations by ecologist and artist Jean Lieppert Polfus).
• Why Do You Watch Birds? by Lili Taylor
• On the bison trail – a series written by ecologist Jerod A. Merkle & scicomm artist Bethann G. Merkle
• Going Deep – northern gannets up close, by David Gessner
• Redefining “wild” to include humans by M. Sanjayan
• Ten historic female scientists you should know by Sarah Zielinski
• Yellowstone wolves take a blow to their rep – eloquent summary of debate over ecological influence of carnivores in YNP by Liza Lester
• While Our Backs are Turned – scientist-communicator Clarisse Hart reflects on imperiled hemlock trees

SOFTWARE & APPS

To tell a good story, you often need to do historical/cultural research beyond your own science. These apps will help you keep your sources sorted.

• Evernote is an excellent way to organize all types of media for a story.

Once your writing is published, these widgets can help you keep track of where it lands online.

• Google Alerts
• Mention: more comprehensive than Google Alerts – tracks webpages and social media mentions