Interested in science blogging but not quite sure where to start? I've put together a brief guide containing some general tips and suggestions, as well as some of my grammatical petpeeves. This guide was created drawing on my experiences and opinions, as well as some existing science writing guides, such as Katie Burke’s 12 Tips for Scientists Writing for the General Public.  

Ever thought about taking a career sidestep to write a novel? Seriously. Issac Asimov was a biochemistry professor before he started to write science fiction (I, Robot; Fantastic Voyage; and 500 more novels). The astronomer Carl Sagan wrote Contact. Michael Crichton was a physician before he became a best-selling author (Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain, among others). Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote under the pen name Lewis Carroll, was a mathematician (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).

At least once a month, AAAS Policy Fellows get an email from a Sci on the Fly editor with a suggestion for a blog post – it usually starts with, “Who can speak to this topic….”? I like to believe that most people a) read the email and then b) think, “wow, that would be a good topic for a blog” then c) if they are someone who can speak to the topic they write and if not, they are reminded of another topic about which they can write.