The OITE has planned a variety of writing workshops for current trainees. Please read all three descriptions below and plan to attend the workshop(s) that will best meet your needs.

All scientists know the importance of developing great writing skills. This 4-week course is for any trainee interested in improving his/her writing skills. Designed to be helpful to both native and non-native English speakers, this course will address English grammar basics. The examples-based workshop will feature:

• Identifying and solving writing problems;
• Reviewing grammar problems and sentence structure;
• Punctuating for clarity of meaning;
• Building coherent sentences and paragraphs;
• Organizing ideas into a clear and concise document;
• Developing a strategy for writing scientifically related documents (e.g., introductions, posters, proposals, abstracts, e-mails, cover letters for resumes or manuscript submissions, and more);
• Avoiding writer's block;
• Scheduling the writing process; and
• Reworking for clarity, readability, and brevity.

Each session of the class is limited to 35 participants. In addition to in-class writing practice using short exercises, students will be members of in-class review groups giving feedback to their colleagues. The instructor will provide individual in-class writing guidance and review and analyze weekly writing assignments, providing written feedback. Students interested in taking this class must commit to 8-10 hours per week to writing/editing outside of the classroom. Attendance and active participation at all 4 course sessions is required.

All participants must purchase a copy of CliffsQuickReview Writing: Grammar, Usage, and Style by Jean Eggenschwiler and Emily Dodson Biggs, Wiley Publishing. The cost of this book is about $10.

Speaker: Maggie Meitzler, professional editor and teacher
Date/Time/Location: Note that all room locations remain to be determined.
January 9, 16, 23, and 30, 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus
February 5, 12, 19, and 26, 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., Baltimore Campus
March 5, 12, 19, and 26, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Frederick Campus
April 2, 9, 16, and 23, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus (These sessions will be bridged to RML and NIEHS if interest warrants.)
May 8, 15, 22, and 29, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus
June 4, 11, 18, and 25, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus

Please register in advance. If your registration is accepted you will receive an e-mail three weeks before the first day of class confirming your registration and the room location of the series.

This 4-week course is for postdocs and graduate students who, by the start of the class, will have sufficient data to publish a scientific paper. It will be presented by Maggie Meitzler, a professional writer and teacher who also has extensive experience as a scientific editor. It offers students the opportunity to:

• Write a rough draft of a scientific paper, focusing on the two hardest sections to write — the introduction and the discussion;
• Learn how to construct figures and tables;
• Discuss the all-important abstract and the submission cover letter;
• Understand the publishing process;
• Learn why manuscripts get accepted/rejected;
• Decide how to choose a journal; and
• Discuss the future of printed journals in a paperless age.

Each session of the class is limited to 35 participants. Students will be members of in-class review groups giving feedback to their colleagues. The instructor will provide individual in-class writing guidance. She will also review weekly writing assignments and provide written feedback. Students interested in taking this class must commit to 8-10 hours per week to writing/editing outside of the classroom. Attendance and active participation at all 4 course sessions is required.

All participants must purchase a copy of Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences by Janice Matthews and Robert Matthews, Cambridge University Press (2007). The list price of this book is $34.99.

Speaker: Maggie Meitzler, professional editor and teacher
Date/Time/Location: Note that all room locations remain to be determined.
January 9, 16, 23, and 30, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus
February 5, 12, 19, and 26, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., Baltimore Campus
March 5, 12, 19, and 26, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Frederick Campus
April 2, 9, 16, and 23, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus (These sessions will be bridged to RML and NIEHS if interest warrants.)
May 8, 15, 22, and 29, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus
June 4, 11, 18, and 25, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bethesda Campus

Please register in advance. You will receive an e-mail three weeks before class begins confirming your registration and the location of the series.

The approach used by Gopen is based on a single idea: to improve your writing, learn how readers go about their reading. Readers know where to look for what. Learning what readers do allows a writer to control what readers learn. Dr. Gopen's workshops have changed participants' writing habits permanently, often resulting in improved grant writing success. This workshop is appropriate for anyone in the NIH community who has an interest in writing effectively. Registrants must be able to commit two days to this workshop, as the second session builds upon the first.

Here is what Dr. Gopen has to say about his presentations:

In the working world, the writer is usually the expert (however momentarily), writing for an audience that has a need to know something. We call that rhetorical act "communication." No one cares how hard the writer tried or how much progress has been made since the last effort. In the professional world, the important person, where prose is concerned, is not the writer, but rather the reader. The bottom line question where writing quality is concerned is simple: Did the reader actually get delivery of that which the writer intended to send? If the answer is yes, the writing was adequate; if the answer is no, the writing was inadequate.

View the Videocast of Day 1 (HHS Only) [RAM, Total running time, 6:34:05]
View the Videocast of Day 2 (HHS Only) [RAM, Total running time, 5:57:34]

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Page last revised on December 17, 2008 (sva)