Popular Science Writing
Got a book in you? Training to turn your ideas from inkling to ink
Writing is a wonderful, creative medium that can help us reach audiences beyond our immediate community.
But writing for a public audience is a very different discipline.
In this workshop, you’ll learn how the popular science industry works, including different media such as books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. We’ll cover how to find and frame your story, and how to use advanced creative writing techniques to captivate your readers.
By the end, you’ll have everything you need to create compelling pieces that connect with your audience, and know how to pitch it to get it seen.
Workshop content
Before the training
Part 1: Storytelling Foundations
Before we meet for the workshop, you’ll be given access to our Storytelling Foundations online course. This will give you all the theory you need to use storytelling techniques in writing for the public.
By giving you this content before the workshop, you’ll have time to reflect on what you want to write, who you want to write for, and how a storytelling framework can clarify and accelerate the writing process. Giving you this content before the live session frees us up to spend the maximum possible time concentrating on workshopping your writing and meeting your individual goals.
On the day
Part 2: Theory and Warm-Ups
In the first half of the live workshop, we’ll cover theory and warm-up writing exercises on:
The popular science industry
Finding your story
Source materials
Finding the human story
Characters in non-fiction
Avoiding cliches
Advanced creative writing techniques
Rhythm, reading and editing like a pro
Pitching your story: the 8 questions to answer
Part 3: Workshopping your Writing
In this final part, we’ll workshop your ideas to help you refine your writing, be they a book or a blog or anything else.
With detailed feedback from your peers and the workshop leader, by the end, you’ll have a plan for how to turn it from inkling to ink!
FAQs
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This training is for anyone with a science or science-adjacent background (science, technology, engineering, maths or medicine), or writers who want to incorporate science into their non-fiction writing.
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Twenty. This is a highly practical course and I like to keep numbers low in order to give everyone a fair chance to share their work and receive feedback. If you want larger numbers to come, I'll arrange for another trainer to join us.
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Absolutely! I'm used to catering for a group that covers a range of experience levels. This is an ideas-generating workshop, and attendees always comment on the relaxed, friendly and supportive atmosphere.
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Absolutely! I'm very used to training groups that have people with a range of experience levels. Even for those who have some bylines under their belts, there's always room for improvement. I hope this workshop will spark fresh ideas to take your practice in new directions.
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Yes. The reason I keep the group sizes small is to allow time for each person to receive feedback from me and from the group.