Readable Research: Using Sensory Writing to Make Academic Research Engaging
Hedieh Gharrat is a fiction writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is currently pursuing a PhD in researching the dark academia genre while crafting short stories inspired by Iranian folklore, fantasy, and gothic genres. When not writing, Hedieh enjoys reading, listening to music, and watching TV shows and films. An aspiring author, she looks forward to publishing her work in the future.
If you consider attending the in-person workshop at the ARC on May 27th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. More details are available in the link below:
As a researcher, you’ve probably encountered situations where conveying the essence of your work to those outside your field is challenging. You can sense their confusion through their awkward smiles and nods, and despite your best efforts, you know deep down that they didn’t grasp the terminology you used to explain your extensive research. You might think, “Well, that was about as clear as I could make it,” yet you can’t shake off the look of sheer perplexity on their faces. Neither of you is at fault. As a researcher immersed in your field day after day, you’re well-acquainted with its intricacies and nuances. You understand the specialized language and assume others do too, or at least wish they would. You hope that when you elaborate on the jargon, it becomes clearer. Perhaps it does to some extent. However, there are ways to simplify your explanations, benefiting both you and non-academics in understanding your research field. That’s what the Readable Research: Using Sensory Writing to Make Academic Research Engaging workshop aims to facilitate. This workshop is part of the University of Glasgow’s Write of Spring Festival running from 15th – 29th May 2025.
Regardless of your research topic—no matter how niche or carefully selected—it fundamentally revolves around human experiences. It involves solving problems, offering solutions, and helping people with the challenges in their everyday lives. It also encompasses knowledge about the world, including the past, present, and especially the future. I am confident that if you explore your research topic thoroughly, you can discover connections to human experiences and emotions and identify why the public would be interested in your work. Ultimately, as PGRs, we all want our hard work to be recognized and to contribute meaningfully. What better way to share this knowledge than to publish it, allowing others to benefit and possibly express silent gratitude for the solutions we might have provided.
One practical way to make an impact is by writing articles that are much easier to understand than conventional academic papers. The goal is to create content that non-experts can read during their coffee breaks, without the need to look up complex terms and phrases. These articles should showcase your research and resonate with non-experts on a deeper level. Nowadays, we all seek out pieces that reflect our experiences; we want to make sense of our lives, of our problems. We are searching for solutions to the issues that may or may not affect us in the future. In short, we want to read relatable articles that offer insights into ourselves and our experiences. This workshop aims to support this objective through sensory writing, which involves using your senses to make your writing more tangible, accessible, and human.
In this workshop, we will explore articles from The Conversation that effectively illustrate how to reach a wider audience. We will discuss the importance of a compelling title and a strong opening sentence and aim to understand the benefits of sensory writing to create engaging and relatable content. This doesn’t mean simplifying your research. Instead, catering to the public involves using various strategies to convert technical, jargon-heavy topics into engaging and easy-to-understand pieces.
If you think this could help you as a researcher in the future, consider attending the in-person workshop at the ARC on May 27th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
