Communicating the key message is one of the most important parts of paper writing that is often overlooked. The busy reader of today’s world needs to absorb your message in the shortest time possible. They don’t have time for you to beat around the bush. Therefore, think about your central message carefully. Here are some recommendations for you to find the key message:
- List three main points of your paper.
- Wrap up your whole paper in one sentence.
- Explain your work to a friend in one minute.
- You might think these are easy to do but after you try them out you will find out it is not so.
- Spend time finding the key message until you get it right. It is worthwhile. After you did these exercises you will feel more confident about the whole writing process that follows.
- Sometimes you cannot summarize your work in one sentence, it is usually because there are several major findings. This exercise helps you to focus on central issues. So if you really cannot summarize your central message into one sentence, try to do it in two. If you still cannot do that then you should seriously look for the reason. We suggest you highlight the central message of your work by talking to a friend.
- It is important to remember that a poorly written paper has very little chance of acceptance by a journal even with good scientific content, therefore improving your English writing skills will help you a lot.
