Seven Helpful Characteristics to Have
Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.
Recently I attended the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) annual conference. Highlights included a talk by the winner of the association’s top award. Although the talk was titled “What Surgeons Taught Me about Medical Writing”, its main points also apply to other fields.
In the talk, the speaker (who had been an editor in a surgery department) discussed seven useful characteristics that she had observed in the surgeons she worked with. These characteristics also aid other researchers.
Here are the seven characteristics. Whereas the speaker said how each one applies to professional medical writers and editors, I’ll briefly say how each can apply to authoring research writing.
- Precision: Use words exactly. Also follow journals’ instructions exactly.
- Discipline: Understand that writing well requires practice and hard work. Take the needed time.
- Focus: Know that writing requires concentration. Therefore minimize distractions.
- Lifelong learning: One cannot know everything about writing. Also, requirements and technology change over time. Therefore keep learning.
- Restraint: When reviewing others’ writing, suggest the smallest changes that will solve the problems. Suggest only changes for which you can state reasons.
- Teamwork: Research writing, like research, tends to be a team effort. Know your strengths and weaknesses, and recruit team members accordingly. Play your own role well.
- Mentorship: Find a mentor (or more than one mentor). Also be a mentor. Know that even if not formally a mentor, you may be serving as a model for others.
I thank the speaker for identifying these characteristics. Also, please note that the AMWA website includes handouts from many of the conference sessions.
Until the next post—
Barbara