Introduction to Scholarly Writing

Abstract

Most scholarly writers enjoy writing: They find it exciting, even exhilarat- ing—but they do not find it easy. People who are not accustomed to writing often expect it to be easy. They believe that writing a scholarly paper is a straightforward process in which the writer looks at the data, decides what it means, and then writes the paper from start to finish and sends the final product to a journal. Nothing could be further from reality. Writing is complex and difficult, and the only way to learn to do it well is to begin. People who have had little experience in writing formal papers, however, often have no idea how to begin. This is a particular problem for those in scientific disciplines such as nursing. When they begin their undergraduate work, most students do not expect to become writers. They suffer through freshman English with the sense that writing is only for literary people and then take science courses requiring skills in memorization and an ability to handle multiple-choice examinations. Years later, when they are asked to write a paper, they feel lost, as if they suddenly had been told to make a speech in an unknown language. Yet, writing is a skill and a craft, and with practice