Workshop: Writing from the reader's perspective

From Dr. George Gopen's one-day writing workshop, I learned amazing psychology of readers. More specifically, readers process information in a certain way when reading scientific work, and therefore, if we write as they expect, we can make a strong case, and it is easier for readers to read. For each sentence, we should be clear about the subject of the sentence, keep the verb close to the subject, provide a link to the old information, and stress new important information in the end of a sentence. The structure is fixed, but the substance for positions in the structure can be moved and has to be decided by the writer. The decision of the flow and what to stress makes each individual's work unique. The message seems so simple, but overcoming unconscious bad writing habit and practicing this principle takes a long way.   

Together with a few other authors' helpful writing books, this workshop enhanced my belief that scientific writing skill can be trained. It is a pleasure to make sense of things and make one step closer to good communication. Thank you, Dr. Gopen.