Friday, July 31, 2015

Reading for Writing

Writing skills are badly needed in the professional world, no matter in the industry or academia. I have seen many people (mostly international students, including myself) struggling with their writing skills. I don't believe there is any shortcut but constant and regular writing practice to improve writing skills. In addition, I think reading is a good compliment to writing practice. Here I'm putting together a list of recommended books.

The first two are on general writing (not necessarily scientific writing):
  • On Writing Well by William Zinsser
  • The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White
Then here are two books for scientific writing:
  • Scientific Writing and Communication: Papers, Proposals, and Presentations by  Angelika Hofmann
  • Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Joshua Schimel 
I also got a list of classic novels from my colleague Jason Wilson (co-author of my TSG2014 paper):
  • Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
  • Ulysses by James Joyce
  • Hamlet by Shakespeare 
  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  • A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  • The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
  • Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  • War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  • Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Here I'm trying not to recommend a list of scientific papers in energy forecasting. I would rather suggest that we focus on the analytical and technical aspects of those papers.

Happy reading!

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