Working With Words

(by Lynne Hardy)

I was very disappointed to have missed the writing workshops held in the summer as part of Linda Gillard’s Celebrating Science residency, so I was thrilled to bits to see that there was to be a repeat run this semester. The write-ups from Linda on the Celebrating Science blog had me intrigued and I was looking forward to seeing what was on offer.

So, on Monday morning I made my way to the very top of the Calman Learning Centre ready to be inspired. We were a mixed group: professors, lecturers, science communicators and students with a variety of backgrounds and experience (including Emma-Kate, who has also contributed to this blog). The room we were in looked out onto a high blue sky and a magnificent view of the Cathedral and Castle, presiding serenely over the bustling city below.

Our first exercise was to read two scientific newspaper articles and discuss our thoughts on them. One was brief and clinical, concentrating on getting hard data across to the reader without engaging them on a more visceral level; the other read more like a story, beginning with a question that people could identify with, then building on that to deliver an accessible scientific message. They served to highlight key differences in the way that science can be presented to the public and, as I’ve discussed before, how words can be used to turn people on or off regarding it.

The next set of exercises used photographs. For the first one we had to choose a picture that spoke to us and write down the questions it inspired. In the next, we answered a series of questions relating to a different picture, trying to create a character with depth but not useless detail (or, as Linda described it, it’s not as if you need to know what school the character went to, or what they had for breakfast, to get a handle on how they behave). We also used photographs to look at ideas of stereotypes and how to subvert them to make for a more interesting plot.

Now I’ve done quite a lot of writing in various different fields, scientific and fantastical, but as in everything, there is always more to learn and I was particularly interested in the timed writing exercises I’d read about. I knew that many of my comic artist friends did warm-up sketches before they settled down to more “serious” drawing (here's an example of one of Abby Ryder's) and the timed exercises seemed to be the word equivalent of that. Having tweeted some of my writer friends after the workshop, several of them also do warm-ups to get their creative juices flowing; sometimes it is with similar exercises to this, or in Dan Wickline’s case, he likes to do sudoko puzzles to take care of his brain’s logical needs before flexing its creative muscles.

The challenge of the timed writing exercise is to write for, say, ten minutes without stopping or correcting spelling and punctuation or worrying about quality, starting from a trigger word. Linda had supplied a very long and varied set of words to choose from and so we began. My first word was “silence”, which I then proceeded to destroy by tippy-tappying away at my keyboard. Interestingly, the non-stop part of the exercise didn’t phase me and the words tumbled out in a stream of consciousness that was very liberating. What was difficult was not going back to correct myself; I’m a fast typist, but not a very accurate one, so the piece was littered with inversions, trip-ups and gobbledygook caused by my racing fingers.

This first attempt was followed by a discussion on how people had found the exercise. It’s always fascinating to hear how people work, why they write and the difficulties they have with it. Some had relished the experience, others were not so sure; the lack of structure and an end product was sufficiently different to the scientific writing they were used to, that it had taken them out of their comfort zone completely. After this analysis, we had another go. And another. This last attempt was slightly different; a word wasn’t the inspiration this time, but a piece of music. I can’t remember the name of it, or who wrote it, but it was a very sad and haunting cello and piano duet that led to quite a melancholy response.

And then, suddenly, we were out of time. The morning had flown by and had, by turns, been instructive, illuminating and demanding, but very rewarding. Linda was an open and engaging teacher, more than willing to share her own experiences, ideas and advice with all present. My only complaint would be that it just wasn’t long enough, and it’s not often you hear that about CPD!

Writing about Science

I’ve always been drawn to writing about science. Linda says that writing fiction is both creative and cathartic. Writing about science is both creative and cathartic too. It is an opportunity to digest all the information that you have gathered about your chosen topic, discussed with your peers, argued about over coffee, allowed to drift across the back of your mind, and are finally ready to try and explain to the outside world. It is very satisfying to feel that you have a strong enough grasp of a subject that you are able to sit down and explain it to someone else. It is exhilarating when this leads to more and more questions, new ideas to pursue, and new arguments to be developed.

Is there really a divide between scientists and storytellers? Linda suggests that the job of the scientific writer is to transmit knowledge, whereas the job of the storyteller is to transmit feeling. I would argue that the job of scientific writers is to share knowledge, rather than transmit it, and that they will not be very successful at this job unless they are able to develop some level of empathy with their audience.

I was recently involved in a training session focusing on creative approaches to science communication, including workshops on science and drama (including Science Panto!) lead by Claire Willis from the Science Learning Centre North East, and on science and poetry lead by Stevie Ronnie from Newcastle University. I came away from the day refreshed, full of ideas and with a cracking quote from Stevie:

“Art and Science are the same thing: trying to understand the world around us and what it is to be human”.

From left to right: Dr. Lorraine Coghill, Linda Campbell and Dr. Paula Martin (Durham University), Stevie Ronnie (Newcastle University) and Claire Willis (Science Learning Centre North East). Image by Gavin Duthie, courtesy of Beacon NE, a Beacon for Public Engagement.

Image taken during Creative Science Communication Training, 21st March 2011, at the Science Learning Centre North East, lead by Claire Willis (Science Learning Centre North East) and Stevie Ronnie (Newcastle University). This training is part of the Embedding the Benefits of Innovation in Disadvantaged Communities project, which is a joint initiative between Durham University and the County Durham Development Company. It is part financed by the European Union's ERDF Competitiveness programme 2007-13, securing £0.49m of ERDF investment through the Regional Development Agency One NorthEast. The ERDF programme is bringing over £250m into the North East to support innovation, enterprise and business support across the region.