“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -Maya Angelou
From questions about the smallest scales to the largest, from Earthly phenomena to things we could only conceive of in theory, our Ask Ethan series is your opportunity to have anything you ask considered for a column. This week, though, is a little different than normal.
![Image credit: Kenneth Libbrecht of http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/.](/files/startswithabang/files/2014/05/movie3.gif)
Rather than a question about science, I got a question about science writing. And in particular, what advice I'd give to a young scientist who was interested in starting their own science blog for the very first time.
![Image credit: Extended Learning Institute at NOVA, via http://elifestudentblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-student-lingo-workshops.html.](/files/startswithabang/files/2014/05/Writing-600x388.jpg)
Go read the whole story, and then weigh in here on what you'd like to see!
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Would it be possible to put a small description after each image in addition to the credit? Often you show striking images - it would be nice to know what they are :-)
Three points to add:
1) Never assume that one's readers all reside in the USA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_representation_by_country
2) Always use the International System of Units and related nomenclature:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units
3) Either moderate reader comments or just disable the commenting facility. Genuinely interested readers are quickly turned away from a blog after trying to wade through endless comments along the lines: "Great article!" or "You don't know what your [sic] talking about."
Be safe Be seen! Navigating the perilous traffic of academia without a strong online presence can sometimes be as unwise as cycling in Dublin without a high-vis vest. Hooray Academia - Be seen, Be cited!
PS. good idea to link twitter and blog