How do you become a science writer? I wish I had a straightforward answer for you. I also wish I had the definitive recipe for the Sacher Torte. The sad reality is that every Sacher Torte is delicious, and every writer has a different story. There are definitely many ways to skin the science writing cat.
My skinning of the beast started in 1997. I was back to a lab in Italy after my Ph.D. in molecular biology in Paris. Like all my postdoc siblings, I spent long days surrounded by mice, pipettes and all the paraphernalia of the modern molecular biologist.
At night, when most of my colleagues where peacefully lying on their sofa, or engaging in more grooving nocturnal activities, I morphed into a writing Mr Hyde. Earlier that year, I had made my first step into science writing by unmercifully harassing the editors of an Italian science magazine until I got my first assignement. A few months later, took more courage and successfully pitched a couple of news stories to Nature and The Lancet.
My double life was becoming interesting but also difficult to match with my research career, the sanity of my neurons, and the sparse social interactions with non-rodents. It was time to make a choice.
I turned down a sweated-out fellowship renewal. I made sure that my transition was as smooth as possible for my colleagues and the research project. Then, I bought a PC, fax, modem and a new desk and I set up business in my home apartment. I found out that the best survival strategy was to be creative and keep my range as broad as possible. I made a list of all the science book and magazine publishers in Italy and sent my CV to all of them. If not luck, at least statistics would be on my side. A few answered. I worked as translator, as a ghost writer, as a reviewer for science books.
I also contacted Telethon Italy, the charity that financed my post-doc, and I proposed them to set up a website that would provide information to patients about genetics and hereditary diseases. They liked the idea and signed me up. The website (www.informagene.it) is now a national reference in its field. It was the start of a rewarding and long (still ongoing) collaboration with the Telethon, a world-class and dynamic research charity.
A few years later, another turning point in my carrier was the internship at Scientific American in New York. It was one of my greatest and more enriching professional experiences. Unexpectedly, I fell in love with the Big Apple. I still try to go there as often as I can. The next year, I was awarded a journalistic fellowship from the Armenise-Harvard Foundation to the Harvard Medical School in Boston.
That’s the way I started. it’s just one of a zillion possible starts (and probably not the most straightforward), but I hope that my experience will be helpful to those who are considering a career into science writing.
A piece of advice for a carrier switch? Here you go: if you are a scientist, don’t think of science writing as an easier alternative to research. Like research, journalism is a difficult and extremely competitive world. I also found out that a research background can be very useful, but is not essential. I usually cover the fields where my research experience and my sources are most valuable: biomedical, genetics, stem cells and “hot issues” such as cloning, biotech, GMO and research policy. When I deal with these subjects I prefer to do fewer but longer, in-depth stories than many shorter ones. However, I don’t like to be over-specialized and I try to keep my scopes broad. I cover IT, geography, physics. I am always open to explore new territories and I love to travel.
Finally, I am often asked if I miss the laboratory. The answer is: yes, I do miss the laboratory. Perhaps this is why I choose to devote a large part of my activity to the monitoring and strategic planning of research, which I do for Telethon. Together with science writing, this is an excellent way to be a part of the scientific community. When I miss the sound of the centrifuge, the long arrays of minitubes on a rack, the smell of phenol, I can still pay a visit to one of my many lab-rat friends.
Spotlight. Notebooks are open, microphones wave before your nose. Everyone is waiting for your story.