Writing-Communication - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed & Critical Errors to Avoid

By Scott J. Pearson | September 3, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Many scientists and engineers first learn to present by watching others present and mimicking these teachers. This technique helps to convey the basics, but how do collective bad habits get rooted out? Indeed, many weaknesses get passed on from mentor to mentee and from lab to lab. Instead of just floating aimlessly with the masses, those who aspire to greatness can benefit from reading critical commentary from scientific communicators like Michael Alley. This book, first…

Writing-Communication

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

By Scott J. Pearson | September 2, 2023September 2, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Natalie Goldberg’s guide for writers seeks to free authors to engage their own minds in writing. Using Zen Buddhism as a template, she describes the practice of writing as similar to meditation in that an author engages her/his own mind. She seeks to free writers from a persistent “inner critic” who chatters doubts, hangups, and insecurities. She labels this the “monkey mind” in contrast to a “creative mind.” As she does in writing seminars, she…

Research-Education Writing-Communication

Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars & Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books

By Scott J. Pearson | August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

In the social sciences and the humanities, publishing scholarly books is the name of the game for career advancement. Yes, teaching within an academic setting is crucial, but traction for tenure in these fields mainly comes through the pen. Most academics master how to please their advisors, peers, and mentors; few take the step of mastering the industry of publishing. William Germano’s book, laudably in its third edition from the University of Chicago Press, fills…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work & Beyond

By Scott J. Pearson | August 18, 2023August 18, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Communications form an essential skill of leadership. To be a leader, people have to follow you. For people to follow you, they first must appreciate your vision, articulated in words, and then see them followed up with actions. This is true both in the workplace and in social life. In this book, Jay Sullivan aims to provide practical and simple insights to help us achieve these goals. In the first half of the book, Sullivan’s…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

What Editors Do: The Art, Craft & Business of Book Editing

By Scott J. Pearson | July 21, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Since the advent of Amazon and self-publishing via the Kindle, the business of writing has become much more complex. Many can put their own book out to the public directly through self-publishing, but professional editors can still prove their worth through focused skills. Though not wonder-workers, editors can bring a text from good to very good or from very good to great. Peter Ginna’s anthology highlights precisely these skillsets through dozens of guest writers who…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

Effective Emails: The Secret to Straightforward Communication at Work

By Scott J. Pearson | July 19, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Email is a staple of the modern business workplace. A new employee can find that it’s easy to make dozens of simple mistakes. An experienced employee can find that they aren’t as effective or efficient as their job requires them to be. The trouble is that all of these rules of communication are unwritten and seemingly inaccessible. To help us raise our email “game,” Chris Fenning provides this concise guide to realize our best intentions…

Biography-Memoir Writing-Communication

A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections of a Writing Life

By Scott J. Pearson | May 2, 2023May 2, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Pat Conroy is one of the giant writers of the modern American South. He grew up in Beaufort, South Carolina, in the so-called “Lowcountry,” south of Charleston. The son of a decorated but semi-abusive Marine pilot, he went to the Citadel, a military college in Charleston, then all-male, and played basketball. He wrote about all of this in several memoirs alongside other great works of fiction. Some of the fiction have even been turned into…

Books Writing-Communication

A Word on Words: The Best of John Seigenthaler’s Interviews

By Scott J. Pearson | March 15, 2023March 12, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This book is hard to categorize or to compare to other books. It is comprised of interviews with authors spanning several distinct subjects: the civil rights movement, literature, music, sports, and presidential histories. Because the interviewer John Seigenthaler read these books in detail, he asks smart questions and drew out deep answers. And because the interviewees wrote the books, you have expressive, informative answers. When added is the fact that these are the best of…

Biography-Memoir Indie Writing-Communication

We are the Words: The Master Memoir Class

By Scott J. Pearson | February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Writing a memoir seems deceivingly easy at first. Anyone can write about their own life, right? Yet crafting a good memoir – one that vividly communicates and mesmerizes with its words – is a difficult task. As this book’s title infers, a memoir consists of the writer’s life becoming the words, which in turn take on a life of their own. Its author Beth Kephart teaches writing at workshops and an Ivy League university (the…

Presentation Science Writing-Communication

The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science

By Scott J. Pearson | January 7, 2023January 7, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

A popular impression about science is that scientists do not know how to write well; that is, they only write in highly technical jargon that’s, well, boring. Scientists spend so much of their training, the story goes, learning about facts that they do not master the art and craft of communication. Montgomery, in this work, seeks to counter that argument by teaching scientists how to communicate well. In so doing, he harkens to a centuries-long…