Writing Tips

WRITING TIPS

Writing tips and resources for good writing:

Strunk and White. Strunk and White is the ultimate guide to writing style. Look here to learn the difference between "their" and "there", etc.
It is always handy to have a dictionary and thesaurus around. Here is a link to Merriam Webster. http://www.m-w.com/
USGS Writing Guide. This is a nice guide that is specific for earth science writing; it includes helpful tips on proper word usage. Here are two sections from the writing guide: http://cuadra.cr.usgs.gov/Techrpt/sta21.pdf ; needless-words.pdf
Many people find The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science a valuable resource. It is available from the library, and in many bookstores, including at Amazon.
It can be useful to do your final editing by eye, rather than with a spellchecker. Spellcheckers do not catch homonyms or typos that make real i (but unwanted) words.

WHAT IS GOOD WRITING?

It is not always easy to find examples of good writing. If you find a paper that is really well written, you may wish to save it for future reference. Not all papers in the scientific literature are well written! In addition, just because a paper is important does not mean it was written well. So when you find a particularly well-written paper, hold onto it! Use it as a template and write a fantastic paper yourself.