“Academic writing doesn’t have to sound like it was written by a committee of robots who hate joy. Clarity IS sophistication. Readability IS rigor. Write like a human. A smart human, but a human.”
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
Somewhere along the way, academia decided that ‘difficult to read’ equals ‘intelligent.’ And so generations of brilliant researchers have buried groundbreaking ideas inside sentences so dense they need their own zip codes. It’s time to stop.
Your ideas deserve to be understood. Not just by the 12 people in your subfield, but by anyone curious enough to pick up your paper, dissertation, or article. Accessibility is not dumbing down. It’s opening up.
Academic Writing Sins (And Their Redemption)
| The Sin | The Fix |
| Sentences longer than 30 words. | Break them up. One idea per sentence. |
| Jargon without explanation. | Define terms on first use. No one will think less of you. |
| Passive voice everywhere. | “The data were analyzed” → “We analyzed the data.” Own your research. |
| Burying the conclusion. | Lead with your finding. Then explain how you got there. |
| Writing to impress instead of inform. | Your job is to communicate, not to intimidate. |
Making Academic Writing Readable
- Lead with the ‘so what.’ Why should anyone care about your research? Start there.
- Use examples. Abstract concepts become concrete when illustrated.
- Write the first draft for yourself. Edit for your reader. Get the ideas out messy, then clean them up for an audience.
- Read outside academia. Journalists, essayists, and science communicators are masters of clarity. Learn from them.
- Have a non-expert read it. If they can’t understand the main point, you need to revise.
Your Move, Creative
Take your most jargon-heavy paragraph and rewrite it as if you’re explaining it to a smart friend over coffee. THAT is the version that should be in your paper.
Stop letting your stories stay stuck.
