July 3, 2023

Academic convention long eschewed first-person writing, for no good reason really. That is slowly changing. Even some scientists, trained to use the passive voice, have begun to understand that “The experiment was conducted” is no more technical than “We conducted an experiment.”

But understanding the power of first-person writing doesn’t mean you know how to wield it gracefully. When you’re writing for peers in your subfield, it’s appropriate and efficient to use jargon and minimize explanations of concepts that specialists can be expected to know. It’s a whole different story if you’re trying to reach readers outside of your small scholarly bubble, and that kind of writing requires, well, storytelling skills. That means you need characters. And the one you know best is you, the writer.

Graduate students and faculty members ask me about this a lot, because I have spent years offering writing advice to academics and worked in publishing early in my career before becoming a professor. The payoff in using first person is that the reader gets to know you, becomes invested in you, and (ideally) cares more about whatever information you’re presenting. Think of your best teachers. They weren’t the ones whose lectures…