After reviewing 10+ manuscripts for journals (across 3 disciplines) in the past 4 months I have a few pieces of advice for #gradstudents and young #EconTwitter academics:
1.) Precision: this refers to writing in active voice instead of passive voice. I struggle with this myself..
1.) Precision: this refers to writing in active voice instead of passive voice. I struggle with this myself..
And have been reminded of this by mentors all the time, but it truly makes for better writing. Active voice helps you be direct about your writing. Objective writing does not mean passive writing.
2.) Be Concise: one of the common issues I find in writing is really long sentences - especially in the intro. Shorter sentences can make a very impactful statement too. Don’t be choppy and don’t just drone on and on and on and...you get the point... find that happy medium.
3.) Tell a story: let’s be honest, we read for a living so make it enjoyable. I have read several manuscripts that are seminal pieces of work in their field, but lack motivation. Great work will go unrecognized if no one reads it. Build a story that people want to read.
4.) hemingwayapp.com can help you with (1) and (2). It will tell you when you are writing in a passive voice and force you to write shorter sentences. It’s not perfect, but has helped me immensely. It also helps with clarifying your points for that better story.
Hope this helps someone out there!
