Final Plan
- Morgan McCarthy
- May 9, 2016
- 3 min read
As a writer, I am paddling in more technical direction than what I have traditionally written. In both five and ten years, I see myself writing scientific papers - and hopefully will be, otherwise it means I didn't make it as a marine biology researcher....
Regardless, I hope to gain more skills in scientific writing going forward. Keeping a journal on the side is also something I have always liked the idea of doing. I hope a more mature version of myself in the future would pick that habit up.
I really enjoy travel writing. I enjoy writing down my adventures because it seems to be entertaining for me but also allows me to recap things that have happened in my own mind. Often times I find myself thinking about past old trips with friends. I review them in my mind because I don't want to lose them, I think through this blog, I've learned that its really just a lot easier to write it all down. The downside of travel writing is that while the nature of what you're writing about is fun, interrupting an activity to take notes on it can be a drag. My least favorite type of writing is creative writing. I know I make mistakes with grammar normally and the confusion for the English language really comes out when my imagined characters start having dialogue with one another. Also tenses, they are free flowing in my mind for some reason.
Hopefully going forward I will be writing assignments pertaining to research that I am helping with or reporting on. I suspect this would mainly entail writing for journals, but would welcome the opportunity to write for any nature magazine like National Geographic.
My next writing project is my senior thesis. Managing it, along with all my other courses is proving to be a bit difficult at the moment. Eventually I will shorten it to a succinct paper to submit for publication in a journal with the co-authors. I think that will be my summer project...
Hands down my greatest weakness is grammar. I wish I could say it somehow slipped out of the curriculum in my schooling...but no, it was there...my mind just seemed to be wandering elsewhere. I also tend to include too much detail in my writing. I choose wordy phrases. I think , that I think it makes them sound fancy. My strengths are interviews and investigative writing. I'm generally pretty friendly, so If I meet someone for an interview, they'll usually open up and feel comfortable sharing details with me.
To address my grammar weakness I should really start reading more. There are also books on grammar I should read. Maybe I can turn that into a mini summer side project. I think writing more succinct sentences will be ground into me through scientific writing. Reading more publications would help with that.
One step I can take tomorrow to ensure that I keep writing after travel writing is over is to sit down and write the results section of my thesis. I've already given my final presentation and know what I want to say, now I just need to get it all on paper.
Thanks Julie and Melanie for a great semester. This class was definitely a highlight for me at Hopkins.
P.S. I don't know who that imposter is in Elana's Brooklyn piece, I swear I'm really quite a tame individual ;)
Click on these links for samples of my writing:
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