Quotes on Writing

• "Writing is easy. You just stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." -- Gene Fowler
• "The pen is mightier than the sword." -- Edward Bulwer-Lytton
• "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult that it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann

Books On Writing and Thinking Well

• Conceptual Blockbusting -- James L. Adams.
• The Craft of Research -- W. C. Booth, G. G. Colomb, and J. M. Williams, 1995.
• Writing Down the Bones -- Natalie Goldberg.
• Chicago Guide to Communicating Science -- Scott L. Montgomery.
• The Elements of Style -- Strunk and White.
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace -- Joseph M. Williams, 1995.
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace -- Joseph M. Williams, 1999.
• On Writing Well -- William Zinsser.
• Writing to Learn -- William Zinsser.

Articles on Writing Well

• The Science of Writing Science -- George Gopen and J. A. Swan, American Scientist, 78, 550-558, 1990.
• A Writing Guide for Petrological (and Other Geological) Manuscripts -- T. N. Irvine and D. Rumble, III, (in consultation with L. M. Irvine), Supplement to the Journal of Petrology, 1-46, 1992.
• Seven Suggestions for Becoming a More Productive Writer -- Mano Sigham, from Change magazine, March/April, 2008.

Abstracts

• A Scrutiny of the Abstract, I -- Kenneth K. Landes, AAPG Bulletin, 35, 1660-1680, 1951.
• A Scrutiny of the Abstract, II -- Kenneth K. Landes, AAPG Bulletin, 50, 1992-1999, 1966.
• The Abstract Rescrutinized -- P. D. Lowman, Geology, 16, 1063, 1998.
• Some considerations when abstracting -- Kenneth D. Mahrer, Geophysics, 58, 10-11, 1993.

From this article: An abstract should summarize the content of the article not the intent of the writer(s). It should contain only that which you are specifically reporting in the manuscript. Based on Day's (1983) recommendations, the abstract should have at most one or two sentences on each of the four foundation points of your work. These are:

1. principal objectives and scope of the work,
2. methodology,
3. results,
4. conclusions.
• An example of a good abstract from a scientific meeting:
• Ulrich, C. A., and L. D. Slater, Hysteresis in the low frequency electrical response of unsaturated unconsolidated sediments, American Geophysical Union, Annual Fall Meeting, Dec. 6-10, 2002, San Francisco, CA, Abstract # T22B-1159, 2002.

Introductions

• A scrutiny of the introduction -- Jon F. Claerbout, The Leading Edge, 10, 39-41, 1991.

Conclusions

• Strategies for Writing a Conclusion
• Conclusions
• Writing Conclusions
• Conclusions

On line links

• Articles on writing by Kenneth D. Mahrer from his column, Writer's Block, published in The Leading Edge:
• What I learned on my summer vacation, March , 1998.
• Golf swings, tennis serves, and technical writing -- things we can upgrade, May, 1998.
• Do I need a tune-up and where to get one if I do, August, 1998.
• If you write it well, they will read it, October, 1998.
• An open letter to authors whose native language is not English, February, 1999.
• Ten common qualities of uncommonly effective writers, May, 1999.
• Why manuscripts fail, according to 12 experts, June, 1999.
• To make a silk purse: The contract between reviewers/editors and authors, September, 1999.
• Bugged by bad writing? Help break the cycle, January, 2000.
• The DSB method -- Persuasive writing made simpler, February, 2000.
• Sages of the ages, June, 2000.
• A boring test, July, 2000.
• Too many chefs -- an allegory, September, 2000.
• Clearer sentences -- Part 1, May, 2001.
• Clearer sentences -- Part 2, June, 2001.
• Cohesive paragraphs, Part 1, August, 2001.
• Cohesive paragraphs, Part 2, October, 2001.
• Overcoming yourself, October, 2001.
• Ask yourself, February, 2002.
• Writing papers people remember, January, 2003.
• An old friend and a new old friend, April, 2004.
• Proofreading your own writing? Forget it!, November, 2004.
• The threads of writing, January, 2005.
• Old paradigms never die, April, 2005.
• Here is an article by Robert Stewart, James Brown, Don Lawton, and Laurence Lines about writing.
• A guide to effective geophysical writing and presentation, CSEG Recorder, October, 2005, 36-41.
• Here is an article by David Mermin, a Cornell Physics Professor, about writing equations in an article.
• What's wrong with these equations?, Physics Today, 42(10), 1989, 9-11.
• Articles from the May, 1993 issue of The Leading Edge. These three articles follow from the Gopen and Swan article listed above.
• Is there a science to writing (particularly science writing) and, if not, why not?.
• On scientific writing: The need for more conviction and subjectivity.
• The sound of words on the printed page.
• Simplicity in writing -- William Zinsser.
• Crochets and Convictions -- William Zinsser.
• William Safires Rule's for Writing -- William Safire.

Web Pages on Writing

• Fire & Knowledge--A Guide to Writing Well -- from Joshua Sowin.
• Dave Patterson's Writing Advice -- from Prof. Dave Patterson at University of California, Berkeley.
• Examples of scientific writing for non-scientists -- from Prof. Miles at Unversity of West Virginia.
• Resources for writing, -- from Prof. Miles at Unversity of West Virginia.
• Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Student, -- from Prof. Michael Alley at Virgina Tech Unversity.
• The Dartmouth Writing Program, -- from Dartmouth College. Check the online writing materials link.

Articles on Writing Reviews of Manuscripts

• Writing an Effective Manuscript Review, a guide to writing reviews by N. M. Waser and M. V. Price.
• Open Letter to JGLR Reviewers, a guide to writing reviews by J. V. DePinto.

Link to My Web Page on Writing Critical Book Reviews

• Writing Critical Book Reviews

Well-written Geology Articles

• Harold E. Malde, The catastrophic late Pleistocene Bonneville flood in the Snake River Plain, Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 596, 52 p., 1968. Recommended by Monte Wilson, a former Geology Professor at Boise State University in the book Writing to Learn, by William Zinsser, 1988.