Medieval Studies at Oxford is a venerable and traditional sort of enterprise. We’re used to working with the Bodleian’s centuries-old manuscripts and its worthy, weighty tomes. But how to communicate our expertise in our areas of interest to a wider audience – and, indeed, to each other?
We on the OMS steering group would like to encourage all of you within our community to consider writing for us here on our blog. The OMS website exists to help us learn about the exciting research going on all around the collegiate University, as well as to bridge the gap between scholarship and public engagement.
Blogposts offer a unique platform to distil complex concepts into accessible, attention-grabbing pieces. They can showcase ongoing research, spark discussions, and even attract potential collaborators (or students) to the field. Their immediacy allows us to reach busy colleagues, to break down our proverbial ivory tower, and to respond swiftly to current events (for instance, by drawing parallels between medieval history and contemporary issues).
Writing for OMS can also be a springboard to wider engagement or to pitches to external websites and media publications such as The Conversation.
Please get in touch to pitch your research and your ideas so that we can grow interest in our discipline and strengthen the links within it. The rest of this post sets out some ‘dos and don’ts’ for blog-posting – and, indeed, other public writing. We hope you will find them useful as you articulate your passion for all things medieval. It would be our pleasure to put that passion into print.
Pitching:
The pitch for any piece of public writing needs to be brief and arresting. It should grab the editor’s attention. They need to see the point, and the relevance, immediately. Find the hook. Do you want to write about this subject because it is timeless or topical? Has something happened in the world that your medieval expertise can speak to? Why is your work fascinating for educated readers, or important for the advancement of knowledge or debate as a whole?
200 words is always plenty.
Writing:
Blogposts need to be written differently from academic prose. They can be far less formal (colloquialisms and first-person speech allowed). They need a simpler readable style. Short sentences are your friend – but so too are more nuanced, complex ones, interspersed amongst them. Avoid excessive jargon and technical terms. However, don’t underestimate you readers either (many of them will be studying, or have studied, at Oxford!). Signal aims and objectives clearly in the introduction. Give concrete examples to illustrate your points. Write a conclusion with a twist.
Titles and subheadings:
Breaking up your text is always hugely helpful to readers, even in a post as short as 800 words. We all have such short attention spans these days. Titles and subheadings need to be intriguing, to draw a potential reader in. But they also need to be informative: where is this piece going? Rhetorical questions can be useful, so long as they are not overdone. A good editor will help you bring out substance even as you polish the style.
Images:
A picture can speak a thousand words. Make sure you include at least a feature image for your post’s header. However, two or three within the blogpost’s body will almost always make it better. Remember to have reproduction permissions for images that have copyright, and to caption and credit all images accurately.
Word Count:
Oxford Medieval Studies is interested in posts between 800 and 1,500 words in length. Any shorter and you will have hardly had space to develop your thesis. Any longer and you are halfway towards that elusive academic article. As with those famed five-minute ‘elevator pitches’, less can be more when you’re trying to get yourself across.
Image: Late 15th-century miniature of the author and translator Jean Miélot (d. 1472), Bibliothèque Nationale de France.