Writing a Scientific Paper or Thesis
Good ideas have great value iff they are generously and efficiently communicated!
Professor Simon Peyton Jones gives a lecture centred around how to write a great thesis or paper, but also more broadly about the scientific process. The lecture is both thought-provoking and entertaining.
How to Write a Great Research Paper
Perhaps you think academic writing is about communicating your thoughts and ideas? Think again! Larry McEnerney—the director of the writing program at the University of Chicago—will set your priorities straight, and let you write papers that the people in your field will want to read. You can follow along in the handout to this lecture while watching.
The Craft of Writing Effectively
American Chemical Society, or ACS, (where I got a paper in) has recorded an interview with Professor George Whitesides, about the basics of writing good papers, and the future of scientific publishing.
Begin writing as they do at The New Yorker! Copy editor Mary Norris—aka The Comma Queen—has a charming YouTube series on the written language in all its facets.
The novelist Cormac McCarthy is the author behind No Country for Old Men, among many other works. He has also worked with several famous academics—such as Lisa Randall—helping them with their academic writing. Here you can read Cormac McCarthy’s tips on how to write a great science paper.
Cormac McCarthy’s tips
Going into and a bit beyond writing papers, you might want to have a look at Steven Pinker's talk from The Royal Institution. The title of the talk is Linguistics, Style and Writing in the 21st Century.
Linguistics, Style and Writing