5 Steps of Successful Scientific Writing
Steps need to follow
Introduction
Successful job writing is the result of knowing how to structure information using both language and design to fulfil a specified purpose for a well-defined audience. It is not the result of inspiration, nor is it simply the spoken word turned into the paper, but it is the text that going to influence your reader. The best method to ensure that your writing (whether it’s a report, resume, article, etc,) succeeds is to follow the instructions below.
Those steps will almost certainly need to be followed deliberately, and you also need to bring it in your daily writing. Initially, everyone feels it is difficult for everyone because it is similar to when you try new software, organize a meeting, or a talk for the first time. The steps become practically instinctive with practice. This isn’t to say that writing becomes simple. However, writing successfully is easiest and most efficient when done in a systematic manner.
Preparation
To write like professional content writers require lot of preparation beforehand. The following four major tasks should be completed in order to prepare for writing:
➢ Establishing Your Purpose
First off all, simply ask yourself what you want your readers to know, believe, or be able to accomplish after reading what you’ve written to determine your primary aim. Make an effort to be exact. A writer’s aim is frequently stated in such a broad manner that it is nearly concise. A goal like “report on potential locations for a new research facility” is just too general. However, a mission
statement like “to assess the relative advantages of Paris, Singapore, and San Francisco as viable locations for a new research center so that top management may choose the best place” might help you stay on track while writing.
➢ Assessing Your Audience and Context
Another most important step is to determine who your target audience is. Be specific and ask the following questions once more.
- Who is your target audiences?
- Do you have a number of readers?
- Who need access to or use of the document?
- What are the demands of your audience in regard to your topic?
- What are their thoughts on the topic?
- What do your readers already know about your research topic?
- Should you define basic terminology, or will such definitions merely bore, or even impede, your readers?
In addition to the above points, also try to learn as much as you can about the context. For example, simple context refers to the environment or circumstances in which writers create documents and readers understand them. You could ask both particular and general questions about the circumstance and your readers' backgrounds to determine the impact of context on the research-facilities report: Is this the company's first new facility, or has it previously picked new plant locations? Have any of the readers travelled to all three cities? Have they seen any more articles about the three cities?
➢ Determining the Scope
You may pick what to include and what not to include in your writing by determining your purpose and appraising your audience and context. The breadth of your writing assignment is determined by these decisions. If you don’t precisely define the scope of your study, you’ll waste time in researching because you won’t know what kind of information you’ll need or how much of it you’ll need. The scope of the report on facility locations would contain information such as land and building prices, available labour force, and accessibility to suppliers, given the purpose and audience established for
the report.
➢ Selecting the Medium
At last, you must choose the most effective method for conveying your message. On the workplace, professionals have a variety communication alternatives, including e-mail, fax, voice mail, video-conferencing, and web sites, as well as more traditional methods such as letters, memos, reports, phone conversations, and face-to-face meetings, and so on. The audience and the communication’s aim are the most crucial factors to consider while choosing the right medium. For example, if you need to cooperate with someone to solve a problem textual exchanges may be ineffective compared to a phone call or a face-to-face meeting. So, phone call is right medium in this case.
Research
The only way to be sure you can write about a complicated subject is to know everything there is to know about it. To do so, you’ll need to conduct adequate research, whether it’s conducting an extensive investigation for a major proposal by conducting an interview, reading in library and searching on internet, or simply checking a company’s website and jotting down points before sending it to your reader.
There are mainly two types of method used to obtain data, primary and secondary research. Interviews, direct observation, surveys, experiments, questionnaires, and audio and video recordings, among other sources, are all examples of primary research. In fact, certain types of information, such as human and animal behavior, environmental occurrences, and system and equipment performance, can only be obtained through direct observation, and that all fall under primary research. Whereas the secondary research is the collection of data that has been studied, appraised, evaluated, and structured in a usable form. Books, papers, reports, Web pages, e-mail chats, and brochures are examples of secondary research.
➢ Sources of Information
To conduct your research you can use the following sources for gathering information:
- Can use your own knowledge as well as that of your co-workers
- Internet sources, such as websites, directories, articles and discussion platforms, can be used to obtain information from people outside your company.
- Databases and article indexes, as well as books and reference works, are among the library’s resources.
- Sources in the workplace, such as diverse communications, reports, and Web intranet materials, are printed and electronic.
Organization
The information obtained during your investigation will be incomprehensible to your readers if it is not organised. To properly organise information, you must first decide the ideal technique to structure your ideas, i.e., you must select a major method of development. Methods of development The writer’s tool for keeping content under control and the readers’ means of following the writer’s presentation is an acceptable way of development. Below there are some method of development used in specific scenarios.
➢ The sequential technique of development: If you were writing instructions for constructing office equipment, you’d naturally provide the procedures in the order in which they should be performed.
➢ Chronological method of develop: If you were writing about the history of an organization, you would most likely use the chronological method of growth to travel from the beginning to the present.
➢ Cause-and effect method of development: Often you will need to combine methods of development. For example, a persuasive brochure for a charitable organization might combine a specific-to-general method of development with a cause-and effect method of development.
Outline
After you’ve decided a development method, now you have to to create an outline. Outlining is a technique for breaking down vast content into manageable chunks. It also allows you to accentuate important information by positioning them in the most important spots. A well-developed outline assures that your work will be full and properly arranged by structuring your thinking early on, allowing you to focus solely on writing when you begin the rough draught. An outline can be especially useful for keeping the focus of a
collaborative writing team on a major project.
To accomplish this task, you should start thinking about your layout and design features that will be useful to your viewers while still being relevant to your subject and aim. If you plan to utilize visuals like images and tables, now is a good time to consider where they should go and whether they should be created by someone else while you write and revise the text. The outline can also contains headings, lists, and other unique design elements would be useful.
Writing
You will be well prepared to create a first draft if you have determined your objective, your readers’ needs, and your scope, as well as completed your research and outline. Now, its a time to expand your outline into paragraphs, without paying any attention to grammar, language refinement, just start writing rough draft.
➢ Concentrate instead on ideas: Write a rough draft, focusing solely on turning your outline into sentences and paragraphs. Try writing as if you were discussing your topic to a reader on the other side of the room. Don’t be concerned about a strong and effective start. If you’re writing in a rough, don’t worry about word choice until it comes swiftly and readily.
➢ Introduction: Consider writing the introduction last because you’ll have a better idea of what you have written in the draft. The first paragraph of your document should introduce the topic of your study and provide readers with important background information. An introduction should act as a frame into which readers can put the detailed information that follows in lengthier papers.
➢ Conclusion: Finally, you’ll need to create a conclusion that links all of the primary points together and makes a strong closing point. The manner you close depends on the aim of your work and the demands of your readers. You could advocate a plan of action, offer a forecast or a judgement, or simply recap your important arguments.
Revision
To make the text effective and clearer to the reader, the more effort the writer has to put into rewriting. If you’ve followed the phases of the writing process to this point, you’ll have a rough manuscript that needs to be updated. However, revising necessitates a different mind-set than writing the draft. Be eager to detect and rectify errors throughout revision, and be truthful, don’t skip minor errors. For the sake of your readers, be harsh on yourself. As if you were a reader for the first time, read and analyze the draft. Examine your copy for accuracy, completeness, and effectiveness in accomplishing your goal and fulfilling the needs and expectations of your readers.
➢ Trim extraneous information
Your writing should provide readers with just what they require, without overloading them with superfluous information or diverting them to unrelated topics. Do not attempt to revise for everything at the same time. Several times through your rough draught, check for and correct a different collection of faults or errors each time. Focus on larger errors first, such as unity and coherence; leave major adjustments, such as spelling and punctuation, for proofing later.
Thanks for reading…
