There’s More Writing in STEM than you Think
People often react with surprise when I say that I have a degree in both chemical engineering and professional writing. Those in the writing field often ask why I bothered with engineering when I have a creative calling, while those in STEM often think that my writing degree was just a cute hobby.
But being able to draw on both fields of knowledge has opened doors for me that wouldn’t have been available otherwise. The idea that writing and STEM are two worlds that don’t overlap is a wildly uninformed one — and one that is actually detrimental to every field.
Have you run across misconceptions like this in your career? Let’s debunk some common myths about writing in STEM.
Myth 1: Being in STEM means you don’t need to know how to write
A startling number of engineers, computer scientists and technicians have expressed to me that they don’t know anything about writing—in fact, avoiding writing was sometimes their reason for going into those fields to begin with (just like creatives who avoid STEM out of fear of math). But skipping writing courses in college isn’t actually a bonus: it’s a wasted opportunity to add value to your workplace.
Companies rely on good writers to document standard operating procedures, manuals, and reports. Hiring writers to research a process or shadow experts can be very expensive, and is often unsustainable for long-term needs. How do you preserve institutional memory when there are no writers in-house? And who better to document what’s being done in the day-to-day than the very same people who know the work best?
Myth 2: Some people just don’t have the capacity to write
At work (or at least, in most workplaces), writing doesn’t mean poems or novels. The “writer’s block” people experience in those spaces isn’t quite a lack of inspiration—it’s a lack of understanding.
Like any workplace skill, learning to write means collecting strategies through study and practice. It doesn’t rely on innate talent anymore than, say, welding does. Sure, some people are excellent welders—but with the right course and enough practice, anyone can learn to weld well enough to get the job done. The right combination of study and practice can turn anyone into an effective writer (that’s what we’re all about at Word Conscious).
Myth 3: We don’t need writers in STEM: AI can do the writing
While AI can streamline, format and increase the volume of your content, the human mind is still an essential part of the equation.
AI needs specific prompts to deliver the right outcomes, and in an increasingly AI-friendly world, people are beginning to develop an eye for picking out cheap AI content. Even in cases where AI generates the bulk of the work, the ability to read with a critical eye, pick out inconsistencies or “hallucinations” and reword content for your purposes is crucial to produce a high-quality deliverable.
At the end of the day, writing continues to be an essential skill for any professional that wants to get ahead. How do you use writing at work?