连接你的要点
Highlights from Chapter 5 in <<The Craft of Scientific Writing>> by Michael Alley
While each sentence conveys one idea, a paragraph conveys a group of linked ideas.
1. Begin each new sentence in a way that connects with the one before.
When you connect ideas in science, the types of connections will naturally change from details of what (or who) to details of when, where, how, and why.
Making a strong connection at the sentence’s beginning is an effective strategy not only to strengthen the connections between ideas but also to achieve sentence variety.
To make such connections, you need two things. First, you should have an ample supply of short transitional words and phrases such as also, for example, and however to link ideas.
Second, you should have an array of sentence openers at your disposal to handle the connections of what (or who), when, where, how, and why.
While professional writers connect ideas in ten or more distinct ways, many engineers and scientists connect ideas in only four or five.
1) Linking Words and Phrases
In scientific writing, three important categories of such links occur:
(1) continuing the idea: Also, In addition, Moreover, Furthermore, Therefore, As a result, For that reason, Consequently;
(2) pausing to examine the idea in more detail: In other words, Put another way, In essence, In effect, For example, For instance, Likewise, Similarly;
(3) contrasting the idea: However, On the other hand, In contrast, Conversely, Still, Nonetheless, Otherwise, Alternatively.
2) Basic Sentence Openers
Five sentence openers: subject noun, prepositional phrase, adverb, infinitive phrase, and dependent clause.
3) Sophisticated Sentence Openers
Five sentence openers: participial phrase as modifier, gerundial phrase, dependent clause as subject, correlative conjunction, and comparative correlative.
4) Special Occasion Openers
Five openers: question, appositive, adjective phrase, introductory series, and direct object.
5) Integration of Sentence Openers
Fluid writing arises by beginning each new sentence in a way that connects with the sentence before.
One efficient way to check on sentence variety occurs during the revision process.
2. Integrate equations into paragraphs
Anytime you introduce equations into your writing, you should show why those equations are important.
Define all the terms in your equations.
3. Connect illustrations with the text
To connect illustrations with the text, you have to smooth the transition between what you write and what you show.
Integrating illustrations with the text also means placing illustrations so that they closely follow their text references.