Abstract
On a cool February evening, just weeks before the dark curtain of the pandemic descended on the United States, an energetic crowd filled the basement of the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle for the official launch of a new science writing book. Attendees flowed from the nearby American Association for the Advancement of Science conference, mingled over wine and snacks, and crammed into chairs to listen to authors speak.
It is no surprise that The Craft of Science Writing: Selections from The Open Notebook launched to such a warm reception. Co-founders Siri Carpenter and Jeanne Erdmann have spent a decade building The Open Notebook (fondly known as TON) into a virtual alliance of science writers eager to share and learn about the craft. Today, TON’s website has had three-quarters of a million visitors from around the world, tens of thousands of whom are regular users, according to the site. Editor Carpenter plucked from its trove of more than 400 articles and added a few new ones to form this book.
The Craft of Science Writing offers to be “a guided tour” through the core themes of the website. It begins with a section called “Who Is a Science Journalist and How Do You Become One?” and progresses through devising story ideas, reporting stories, using storytelling techniques, and nailing technical aspects like the use of statistics. Each section begins with a brief introduction and ends with a deep dive into an exceptional science journalism article in the form of a Q&A with its author. These behind-the-scenes stories, where writers open up about their struggles and successes, exemplify the book’s encouraging tone.
Well-known science journalists such as Carl Zimmer, Michelle Nijhuis, Ed Yong, and Wudan Yan are contributors. Some of TON’s most popular articles, such as Laura Helmuth’s “Pitching Errors: How Not to Pitch,” are present too. The book covers the basics, such as reading scientific papers and writing ledes, as well as professional development concerns like dealing with the “impostor phenomenon.” Each chapter is short and easy to read, offering busy readers bite-sized knowledge.
That said, why buy the book when most of the content is free on TON’s website? Journalism professors like me will appreciate the organization and context the book provides for students. The book was perfect for my Science Writing class, which included undergraduate and graduate students in journalism and strategic communication. Others will buy the book as a means to support the free content TON has created or simply for the pleasure of scribbling in the margins of an old-fashioned paper volume.
TON website remains indispensable as a companion to the textbook. Helpful extras can be found online, such as TON’s extensive pitch database, a handy flowchart for making decisions about the viability of story ideas, and a printable cheat sheet of profile interview questions. The website contains many further resources indispensable to science writers, including an extensive guide to finding and using diverse sources. TON has been compared with a free master’s degree in science writing. This book would serve as its introductory course.
The book has billed itself as a “guide for media professionals, scientists, science educators, and anyone interested in communicating with the public about science.” Although it is true that anyone interested in science communication would gain value from the book, it is mainly oriented to the journalism side of “science writing.” Other science writing books, such as A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers (2005), edited by Deborah Blum, Mary Knudson, and Robin Marantz Henig, speak more directly to institutional science writers and provide more detail on specific beats. Another guide, The Science Writers’ Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Pitch, Publish and Prosper in the Digital Age (2013), edited by Thomas Hayden and Michelle Nijhuis, delves more deeply into the business of freelancing.
Journalism has evolved beyond an obsession with scooping the competition at all costs. Collaboration is how we now survive, and science writers have been especially generous with their time and talents in supporting each other and newcomers to the profession. Buying this book, one is not merely purchasing a science writing guide. One is taking a seat at a community table. As the world faces threats from climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, science journalists, as first responders for truth, need every bit of that sustenance.