Editorial: Writing Tips for the Non-Writer

Early 2022 marks my tenth year with CEP. Many of the lessons that I have learned as an editor were magnified with the onset of the pandemic and the shift from primarily in-office to remote work. Today, being able to communicate effectively with the typed word has become more important than ever.

Although my job consists primarily of editing, I have always considered myself a chemE first and an editor second. I still don’t consider myself a writer, per se. But, in reality, we are all writers in one way or another, whether we need to get our point across quickly in an email, concisely explain a technical conclusion in a summary report, or create detailed standard operating procedures with an eye toward safety and operational effectiveness. With a cursory online search, you will be able to find numerous helpful writing guides for a variety of mediums. Some of the advice these guides offer should be taken into account every time you sit behind a keyboard — e.g., know your audience, use simple and direct language, reread your work, etc. But, over the years, I’ve learned a few additional tricks of the trade, which I offer here.

Go easy on yourself. When drafting a longer-length piece of writing, such as an essay or report, avoid writer’s block by getting all of your thoughts and ideas out of your head and onto the page without inhibition or control. I’ve sometimes heard this referred to as a “brain dump.” It’s important that you don’t judge your own writing during this process; if something you write doesn’t sound the way you want, keep moving forward and circle back later. Keep in mind that when using this method, you will need to heavily reorganize, trim, and revise your own work after you are finished putting words on the page.

State your purpose. When I receive a manuscript to review for the magazine, the first thing I do is read the abstract and conclusion section to get a feel for the key points and takeaways of the article. Over the years, I’ve received quite a few manuscripts that had me wondering “Why did the author write this?” I find that when crafting a technical document, presentation, or longer report, it’s best to clearly explain the purpose of the piece of writing and who will benefit from reading it within the introduction. Even when drafting an email, it can be helpful to the reader for you to clearly state what you need in the first or second sentence, rather than making them wade through a lengthy foreword.

Know when to walk away. This piece of advice applies to many writing situations. If you have a short temper, you may have already learned the importance of walking away from your keyboard when frustrated.

These days, our attention spans can be notoriously short. If you find yourself getting distracted while writing, don’t feel like you need to power through. Take a pause, work on something else, and return to the writing later. Likewise, if you are nearing the end of the writing process and you find yourself agonizing over word choice and sentence structure, get to a point where you are 85% happy with the piece and move on. I find that reading a piece three or four times is optimal. At a certain point, editing your own work over and over has diminishing returns.

If you are writing an extended abstract for the upcoming Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS), feel free to adopt some of these tips. Flip to p. 53 for a sneak peek of the meeting (April 10–14, San Antonio, TX).

Emily Petruzzelli, Editor-in-Chief