Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2013: 'Often for us it's a case of what is news' – video

With the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2013 open for entries, three science writers – Geoff Brumfiel, senior reporter for Nature; Jo Marchant, author of Decoding the Heavens; and Linda Geddes, a New Scientist reporter – discuss their tricks of the trade. 'I don't have a lot of things I don't like about bad science writing because I'll just stop reading it – and that's what other readers do too,' says Brumfiel. Geddes warns against the pitfalls of over researching, and Marchant says you have to find ways to excite the reader.

• You can read more science writers' tips here