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On writing: Interview with scientist-author Katharina Vestre

“Writing is my way to keep falling in love with science.”— Katharina Vestre

In The Making of You, the author’s talent for storytelling coupled with a scientist’s eye for detail makes readers turn page after page, while the fresh, clean, and lean writing style appeals to everyone. To discover the secret of Katharina Vestre’s writing process, I decided to interview her.

You started writing your first nonfiction book, The Making of You, in 2015, when you were an undergraduate. It’s unusual for students to spend their summer breaks working on a book. Apart from your genuine interest in the subject, what made you decide to write a pop science book?

It all started with a course I took here at the University of Oslo during the last semester of my bachelor’s degree. It was a course in science communication made for students in natural science and technology. I’ve always enjoyed writing and reading, but studying chemistry and biology I didn’t have many opportunities to do creative writing. During my studies I mostly wrote lab reports and drew figures, but thanks to that course I finally had the opportunity to write more creatively about my field of study.

It was such an inspiring experience, and I really got to see science from a new angle. One of the texts I wrote for the course got published in Aftenposten, which is a major newspaper in Norway, and then a publisher contacted me. I couldn’t believe I’d been offered the opportunity to write a book. I knew I couldn’t miss it, so I accepted and started writing like crazy—during weekends, whenever my cells were incubating with something, while travelling… I am so glad I was given that opportunity, otherwise I would have probably waited until my 50s before I dared writing a book.

What makes your book so appealing to readers?

What was really important for me while writing was that the book should never become boring or overwhelming. It should be entertaining, not like a school lesson! So I have tried to keep the language as simple as possible, and added tons of fun facts along the way.

To write popular science, you have to be able to break down complex topics into everyday language while not making the reader feel dumb. Judging by the reference list, you read a lot of academic articles as part of the research for your book. Since scientists often struggle to explain others’ research in plain language and you have a scientific training yourself, was it difficult for you to translate complex topics into simple language?

It was an advantage for me that I started writing my book when I was still a student. Many of the things I wrote about were new to me, and I knew how it feels to not understand a scientific concept at first, and what parts were the most difficult. That allowed me to put myself in the reader’s mindset. However, it was a process for me to become confident and dare to simplify things. There are some people in the scientific community who don’t see the value in writing for the general public—they think it’s too simplified and that we should spend our time writing academic texts only. I could almost picture one of these people looking over my shoulder and shaking his head in disapproval when I used simple language to explain a complex scientific concept.

For me, the key to make a scientific concept both easier to understand and more entertaining to read about is to describe it visually. So when I write I keep asking myself, what does this look like? Sometimes I have to spend hours on research to answer that simple question. My PC is full of microscope pictures of embryos, the inside of a fallopian tube, and all kinds of cells.

How did you learn to write creative nonfiction?

As well as taking the science communication course I mentioned earlier, I learned a lot about writing from reading fiction books. A good novel can teach you a lot on how to build a good story and make the readers picture what you describe.

Your book took about three years from idea to publication, right? Did you experience any difficulties along the way?

Almost, or two and a half years. I was working on my master’s thesis at the same time, so it was quite an intense period. The most challenging part for me was to be as scientifically accurate as possible while writing a book that was enjoyable to read and easy to understand. But before you can simplify something, you have to completely understand it. There are hours of reading behind some very short and simple sentences in my book.

Indeed, if something reads easily, it usually took the author a lot of work to write. Speaking of effort, what’s the most challenging part of writing a book?

I think I spend most of my time on structuring the book. I want it to be a story, and every paragraph and chapter should connect nicely to the previous one. In my book, I organized the chapters both chronologically and by topic: for each chapter I focused on one organ, and for every chapter I moved forward in time, with birth being the last chapter. I liked this structure, but it was quite tricky to make it work, and find a good place for all the facts and topics I wanted to include.

How different is your published book from the first draft, and who helped you improve your earliest drafts?

My first draft was a lot more boring than the last. My test reader was my sister, Linnea Vestre, who also made the illustrations for the book—she is a professional illustrator specializing in science illustrations—and she could be quite merciless. If she found a part boring, she would always tell me to rewrite it or remove it. However, I am a slow writer. I am still trying to learn to write faster and then edit it afterwards. But instead I can spend a full day writing less than one page…

Learning what writing method works for you takes experimenting, and that is time-consuming and frustrating. And when you’re a scientist, writing a popular science book can feel like a distraction from your research. Plus, writing well takes hard work. How can a researcher start enjoying the task of creative nonfiction writing and stop seeing it as a chore or, worse, as agony?

Writing for a general audience, and not just colleagues that know the field, can actually improve your research. You get to look at your field from a new angle, and sometimes you get new ideas or are able to come up with new questions that you wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. Plus, it’s great when your grandma calls you and says that your work sounds so exciting!

Royalties aside, why would a scientist want to write a popular science book?

By searching for the most exciting facts and stories from my field, I was reminded why I wanted to become a scientist in the first place. Nature is full of beauty and mysteries! Writing is my way to keep falling in love with science.

What’s the best writing advice you ever got and from whom?

While I was taking the science communication course, my seminar teacher would keep asking, “What does this look like?” I still ask myself that whenever I’m writing.

Who edited your book and what aspect of it has benefitted the most from editing?

As I previously mentioned, my sister helped a lot. Also, my editor gave me useful input on when I was being too technical and my writing too complicated. When writing a popular science book it really helps to get feedback from readers that are not scientists or are new to the topic.

Apart from The Making of You and the newspaper article that brought you a publishing contract, have you written other kinds of nonfiction?

When I was a student I wrote for a magazine called Argument. I have also written articles for Norwegian newspapers.

Are you working on another writing project right now, or do you plan on writing more books in the near future?

Yes, together with my sister I am working on a children’s book about animals. It will hopefully be sent to print this week! I have also started a new adult nonfiction book about the cells in our bodies.

That’s wonderful news. Congratulations! I can’t wait to read your next books. Finally, do you have any advice or words of encouragement for aspiring scientist-authors?

Don’t hesitate to start! Remember, you are researching one of the most interesting topics in the world. You just need everyone else to realize that.

Katharina Vestre is a cell biologist currently doing a PhD at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her first book, The Making of You, originally published in Norwegian, was translated into 23 languages. The British English edition was translated from Norwegian by Matt Bagguley.

Updated on 21 September 2022 to add hyperlink to The Animal Book of Records by Katharina Vestre and Linnea Vestre

Last review: 23 February 2024

Cristina N.

A freelance editor and writer with a keen interest in science, nature, and communication, I love to craft articles that help and inspire people.