You’ve Got Some Explaining to Do

You’ve Got Some Explaining to Do: Advice for Neuroscientists Writing for Lay Readers  (available free as a PDF) comes from The Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research.

The book delivers far more than its subtitle promises: it is an excellent resource for content experts writing museum labels, particularly experts who are more accustomed to writing for academia.

In future posts, I’ll share some of my favorite tidbits from the book. For now, here’s an overview:

“Part One: The Meet-up” is about writing as a conversation between the reader and a writer. Especially valuable in this section is the discussion of voice.

“Part Two: Simple Fixes” describes bad usage habits that the author considers “painless to break.”

“Part Three: Science and Style” addresses writing challenges that arise when experts switch from writing for other experts to writing for a lay audience.