The problem with academic writing

I spent over 10 years in academia, and I’m grateful every day for what it taught me. I learned how to:

• think critically

• be independent

• google (yes, that’s a real skill, actually)

• identify 10 different coffee bean brands just by smell

• procrastinate for 5 months and then do 6 months of work in 1 week

• cram a whole semester’s worth of knowledge into my brain in 2 weeks — and then immediately forget everything after the finals

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But there’s one skill I learned that turned out to be counterproductive outside the world of academia (aside from functioning on 2 hours of sleep): academic jargon. I was trained to sound smart and credible — but I never learned how to make people care. I spent years reading peer-reviewed research papers no one wants to read.

Another word for academic jargon is scientific language. And that’s what it really is: a language. The problem? 99% of people in the world don’t speak it. That’s why so many great ideas, tips, and discoveries get ignored by the public. Academics learn how to speak with other academics — but not how to speak with non-academics. It’s like if you showed me a text in German — I wouldn’t understand a word, so of course I’d skip it.

(Wait — that’s actually a bad example because I’m German. Dammit, I totally forgot... Screw it, you know what I mean!)

Anyway, I think it’s a shame that we hide awesome scientific content behind the curtain of complex academic jargon. That’s why we need intermediaries — people who act as scientific translators. That’s also why I started writing content online: to build a bridge between the academic and non-academic world.

To achieve this, I broke all the rules of academic writing and learned how to craft scientific content people ACTUALLY want to read. After many failures, I found the missing puzzle piece: science storytelling. It’s a term I like to use for clear, simple, relatable, and engaging stories/blueprints. Everyone knows regular storytelling — which is super popular. So why not apply it to scientific texts? And that’s exactly what I did. Let me show you how.

Here are the 6 golden rules of science storytelling that helped me gain 14k+ followers on Threads and 1,600+ newsletter subscribers in only 2 months:

1. If a child can't understand your text it's too complicated.

Remove all academic & niche words — aka no words that a reader might have to look up. Simple example:

❌ “Sleep is essential for cognitive restoration and memory consolidation.”

✅ “Getting enough sleep is important for your brain to process and store information effectively.”

2. Put your personality in your writing.

Aka BE AUTHENTIC. People relate to people, not robots. If I see a text that's from you I must immediately think: "Oh, that's such a classic Greg post"

(My lawyer says I should clarify: This is just an example, you don't need to change your name to Greg)

3. Keep it short.

Cut unnecessary words like "really", "furthermore", "however" — unless you use them as pattern breakers. Rule of thumb: Cut your text by 20% after the final editing step. That can be very challenging — but I guarantee you, it’ll make your writing so much better.

4. Be clear & confident.

We tend to be vague and avoid clear opinions. The problem? You sacrifice precision & authenticity. You can't always be yourself AND fit in. Speak your truth, and your real audience will find you.

5. Be precise & practical.

Let's say you wanna share tips on living healthy. "Improve sleep" isn't helpful — tell me the exact steps I should follow. Your advice shouldn’t leave people wondering how to apply it. Give them a clear, actionable blueprint.

6. Tell your story.

Give examples from your personal life. Share your experiences — your failures, your wins. Tell the story of your transformation and the journey that got you there. Your content isn’t just your writing. It’s you.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out on Instagram @husseinnaji_ or email — my door (aka inbox) is always open. Just reply to this mail☺️

Much love,

Your kiwi-with-the-skin-on-eating friend

Hussein

PS: If you want to see more content, check out my other channels:

• Threads

• Medium

• Bluesky

• LinkedIn