Hope Lafferty’s Post

Do you use shorthand when you're writing? By shorthand, I mean those abbreviated terms that get kicked around like a hacky sack among your colleagues. Have you ever had to ask someone what they meant by some jargon that you'd never heard before? In my work, I do that every week. For today's Top 10 Writing Mistake for writers of science and medicine, we're at Mistake #7: Overusing and Inventing Abbreviations Unless you’re Watson and Crick** (although you might be...), don’t abbreviate anything that’s not already commonly used in the literature (wikipedia doesn’t count). Be careful what you take for granted in your field. BM means both bone marrow and bowel movement, and if you’re studying patients with metastasized bone cancer on long-term opioids, you might want to spell your terms out. Thanks to all the folks who commented and appreciated the initial post of this content: Natalia Komissarova Rhona Fraser, BVMS Masatoshi Shoji, PhD, DDSc, LAc Heidi Chapman Kimberly Mankiewicz, PhD, ELS Mia DeFino, MS, ELS, CMPP Karen Leube Karoun H. Bagamian, PhD Taylor Krohn Marijke Adams Yule Lee, MD, MPH **[and Franklin - TY for pointing that out] Lori De Milto, MJ

In case you missed this over the holiday weekend, if you work as a medical writer, I need your help. Take my anonymous 3-question survey to let me know what your biggest challenge is in your career. This will help me structure the training I'm planning in the next couple weeks to answer your most pressing issues. Thanks to everyone who as participated. Lots of great ideas that I'm looking forward to addressing very soon. https://lnkd.in/eQ5z-jDY

Hello all you magnificent medical writers! First off, thanks thanks and thanks for all the great response to my Top 10 Writing Mistakes posts. More to come next week.. Now I could use your help. I'm developing my summer online courses and I need YOUR input! Take my short survey and help me continue to give you what you're looking for. Weigh in at hopelafferty.com/survey Thanks so much and have fun this holiday weekend!

Did your English teacher encourage you to be creative? From the epic response of my original posting of this question, the resounding answer was YES! For creative writing, we always want to stretch our vocabulary. For scientific writing, we need to modify that approach. Today's Mistake #8 of the Top Ten Writing Mistakes for science and medicine: Using Inconsistent Nouns Unlike our verb use (see Mistake #9), where we don’t want to mix things up is our use of key terms. If we get too creative when we describe what we’re talking about, we can lose our audience. As a simple example, “this team,” “the investigators,” and “our group” should not be used to describe the same bunch of people. Pick one and stick with it. Thanks to the almost 2000 impressions and the high praise from Karoun H. Bagamian, PhD Valentina Gomez Fletcher Morgan Leafe, MD, MHA Mia DeFino, MS, ELS, CMPP Giovina Ruberti Angela Jansen, PhD, MHS Shiri Yaniv Monica Nicosia, PhD, CMPP Megan (Frederick) Amason GAIRIKA BHATTACHARYA 📝 Priyanka Daftery Lucía T. Díez Córdova, Ph.D. Sumit Saini Keshav Tathe Karen Leube Rodney (J.) Moore Crystal Abarientos - Velasco Olivia Walser M.Sc. Damiana Chiavolini Raleigh Darnell Isabella Welch Masatoshi Shoji, PhD, DDSc, LAc Crystal Herron, PhD, ELS Amanda M. Ferris Ediel Omar Ramos Meléndez Dr Srishti Nanda Emily Morson Melissa Schwartz Constance Bos Ndidi U. Raquel "Raqi" Flores

Want simple language tweaks to improve your writing? Welcome to Mistake # 9 of the Top 10 Writing Mistakes for writers of science and medicine. Mistake #9: Using Consistent Verbs In speech, we use a lot of the same verbs, especially “to be” and “to do.” But writing is not speaking. It should reflect more structured thought. We have the luxury of many fantastic verbs in English. Evaluate your writing and find other verb possibilities already in your sentences (hint: look for nouns). If you want to really learn how to find the verbs in your sentences, find out in Edit Your Own Work (after you've read it 1000 times) at the link in the slides. Special thanks to the enthusiastic responders to the original post from: GAIRIKA BHATTACHARYA 📝 Crystal Herron, PhD, ELS Shiri Yaniv Andikan Nwosu Lola Ravid RN, BSN, PHN Ndidi U. Taylor Krohn

I want to thank everyone that weighed in and stopped by over the past few weeks as I rolled out the Top 10 Writing Mistakes for writers of science and medicine. Personal shout-outs from Mistake #10 (Not Reading) to: Roshani Mamadapur Marijke Adams Victoria White Rodney (J.) Moore Eden Strachan (straw-n) Amanda Y. Hendrix, MS John Macaulay Heidi Chapman Masatoshi Shoji, PhD, DDSc, LAc Mia DeFino, MS, ELS, CMPP Keshav Tathe Damiana Chiavolini Dr. Haleema Sadia PT Emily Naish Janaíne Prata de Oliveira, PhD Dr Ankita Hazarika Karin Coleman-Mesches Joanne Faysal Lisa Kaspin-Powell and Lori De Milto, MJ Thanks for your interest and all your questions. Let's do one more roundup! https://lnkd.in/emrQZypV

If you enjoyed my Top 10 Writing Mistakes, you will love Crystal Herron, PhD, ELS’s latest training course. One more week to register. Why wait?

Are you smart? Do you have an advanced degree to prove it? With my coaching clients, I have found that they are so intelligent and accomplished that it often feels like I'm talking to their education, not really who they are. It's something that I've been guilty of too. That need to impress. To be taken seriously. To be recognized for the work put in. To feel seen. If I'm experiencing that in conversation, imagine how that shows up in their writing. How might that show up in your writing? We've reached the single biggest mistake that writers make. Mistake #1 - Trying to Sound Smart I get it. You’re educated. In fact, the more educated and specialized you are, the fewer people will know what you’re talking about. Unless you’ve got an evil plot to take over the world, help us all out. Write clearly. Save the convoluted construction for your dissertation advisor. No one else will forgive you. Remember: all your readers want is to understand you.

Are you a perfectionist?   You can admit it. You're among friends here.   Insert "recovering" if you want, but the final 2 Top 10 Writing Mistakes apply to more than writers in science, medicine, and the academic space. These last 2 mistakes strike anyone who writes at all at any point in their career.   Mistake #2 - Believing that the First Draft Must Be Perfect My favorite 2 forms of perfectionism: (1) feeling stymied by the blank screen and (2) attaching myself to the words I’ve already written.   Both get in the way of completing a draft and neither help me reach my goals.   If you’re like me (you’ve read this far, haven’t you?), stop worrying about that first draft.   Go in knowing that you’re writing the worst stuff you can imagine.   Rest assured: anything can—and will—be edited, even if you think it’s perfect.

Can you trust your judgment? In your writing, do you shy away from more direct language because you fear that it will come across as brash? Or too broad brush? Or that your peers won't take you seriously? I once had an author warn me before I edited their scientific manuscript that they didn't want me to make it to sound too "Madison Avenue." As we enter the Top 3 of the Top 10 Writing Mistakes for writers of science and medicine, this shyness and this self-questioning play out in our writing. Mistake #3 - Apologizing for Assertions Again, I don’t mean to suggest that you’re not one of the greats, but Darwin and Galileo had the Vatican breathing down their necks when they published their initial treatises. Don’t be a jerk about your work, but save the qualifiers for the discussion of limitations instead of peppering at every opportunity (see #5 & #4).