Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring

Lack of Writing Skills

Challenge:

Your mentee has trouble meeting important writing goals or has weak skills in scientific writing.

What am I feeling?
- It seems like my mentee hasn’t spent much time working on this document.
- I’m frustrated by how long this project is taking, and I need this publication to support my next grant. Maybe I should write the paper myself.
- Given the poor writing, I’m questioning whether my mentee really grasps the science.
What do I need to learn about my mentee’s perspective?
- I need to understand my mentee’s barriers to making progress on this writing project.
- I don’t know much about my mentee’s past experience. It’s possible the conventions for this type of writing are really new to my mentee.
- It might be helpful to know if my mentee also feels that he or she finds writing difficult and wants to improve.
What outcome(s) do I want?
- I want my mentee to develop better writing skills so that he/she can work more independently.
- I want my mentee to understand that writing doesn’t come naturally for everyone. But it can be learned with practice, and I am willing to help.
- I’d like my mentee to adopt a practice of protecting time to write and using that time productively.

Many creative scientists are not the best writers, or even the best speakers. We all have different strengths, but writing is an important skill that you can improve with practice.
It might be out of your comfort zone, but I’d really like to be able to proofread rough drafts of your work. I think this would help to keep things moving and focus your rewriting efforts.
Sometimes it’s difficult to translate the message in the mind to words on paper. Tell me, what did you want the readers to know or think after reading this section?
Everyone uses a different writing process. Let’s discuss yours — what works well and what is challenging for you.

Foster in your mentees the importance of clear and compelling writing, particularly in research where new discoveries are being communicated for the first time.
Create opportunities for your mentees to discuss their works in progress and to celebrate writing successes.
Suggest the use of dictation or free writing to capture the main points to be communicated, followed later by refinement of the prose.
When giving feedback on a mentee’s writing, don’t forget to point out its strengths. Take the time to discuss your feedback (in person, preferably!) to be sure your mentee understands your concerns and suggestions.
Encourage the practice of protecting some uninterrupted writing time every day or week. Share productive habits that you’ve adopted.
Emphasize that the essence of good writing is rewriting. Effortless looking documents get that way only after multiple iterations of writing, review, and revision.
Encourage mentees to use writing not only for disseminating findings, but also for helping them develop their conceptual and procedural understanding of their projects.
Guide the mentee to writing workshops or consultants, or enlist the help of another person in your research team who is a strong writer.