Did you really "untreat" those cells?

As a technical writer/editor for a biotech company, I frequently change the word "untreated" to "nontreated" and "unbound" to "nonbound." Occasionally, someone will ask why I prefer the prefix non-. The untreated/nontreated issue began in graduate school. My major professor believed that "nontreated" is more accurate than "untreated" because the original meaning for the prefix un- was reversal of some action or state. For example, unplug, untie, unfold and uncap are all reversal words. Therefore, "untreated" could be interpreted to mean something was treated and then the treatment was somehow removed or reversed, but scientists usually mean that a treatment was never applied. Everyone in my major professor’s lab used "nontreated" in all our writings and presentations.

Of course, un- doesn’t always mean the reversal of something. "Unknown," "ungrateful," "unforgiving," "unfit" and "unfinished" are just a sampling of words that obviously mean something that was never done in the first place. The word "unbound," however, is vague and can be easily interpreted to mean something that was once bound has been released, whereas the word "nonbound" clearly describes something that had never bound.

I sometimes wonder how the issue began for my major professor. I’m sure someone she had respected preferred "nontreated" and passed on his belief. The end result is that there exists a population of scientists that believe "nontreated" is more accurate than its undone analog. So, rather than alienate or otherwise irritate any portion of our scientific community, I use non-. It is understandable if "nontreated" seems unnatural or unconventional, but using "nontreated" really is a non-issue.

How does it end?

Everyone likes a good ending. I’m sure at some time you have seen a movie or read a book that had such an impacting ending that you thought about it for weeks. Sometimes an ending can be infuriating because it didn’t provide closure. Or, an ending can be shocking because it revealed an unexpected result. I have always taken the approach that the ending is the most important part. With so much information being thrown at us on a daily basis, we really retain very little of it. Why not capitalize on the fact that the ending is the thing that is most recent in a reader’s mind? A great ending can even make up for faults that proceeded. This is also true about giving a talk. I’m a firm believer that all presentations should have a clear conclusion with the take-home message wrapped up in a tight little package. So, take the extra time to write an ending to remember and everyone will live happily ever after.

Wait a Sec

Have you ever heard of strategic procrastination? Probably not, because I just made it up. Sometimes it’s good to put off to tomorrow what you have time to do today. You may have scheduled a whole day to start and finish a piece of writing, whether it is a business letter, a discussion section of a scientific paper or a protocol. But it is never a good idea to plan on finishing an important writing piece in one day. Instead, I practice strategic procrastination. I write as much as I can, and if the writing is going well, I will attempt to do some editing and re-writing. But then there is a time to stop, set it aside, and come back to it on another day. At that later date, sometimes I come across a sentence or phrase that I swear couldn’t have been written by me. Those darn writing gremlins struck yet again! And sometimes I identify a tone or underlying meaning that I didn’t intend, which can be down right embarrassing. So, go ahead and procrastinate! As long as you say you are being “strategic” you’re in the clear.