The efficient way to produce your final report

7. Some general tips on writing a research report

If you are an inexperienced report writer, you could probably use a little assistance to improve your writing style. The following paragraphs contain a few suggestions and tips. If you implement these, you will be well on your way to becoming a competent research report writer. The experienced writer may skip this section.

a)Write first, edit later: After careful planning of your report’s structure and drafting the first rough concept from your Work Database, it is time to do the detailed writing. We have found that it is most efficient to get your thoughts out of your head and down on paper as quickly as possible.

For example, don’t worry about spelling or grammatical mistakes: write first, edit later. After finishing a substantial part of your report, go back and edit from the beginning. You should generally edit the whole document at least five times.

b) Communicate when you write, do not try to impress: Write for the reader and not to display your intelligence. True genius resides in simplicity. Einstein asked simple, child-like questions, found answers to them, wrote them down in simple English and changed the course of science and history!

Avoid using long, complex words in an attempt to sound knowledgeable. Such words usually serve only to confuse or frustrate the reader. To further illustrate this point, let us consider Charles Darwin’s book "The Origin of Species". This major work in science is amazingly easy to follow. He only used straight-forward language and tried to ease the work of the reader as much as possible.¹²

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