Interlude: Yearly Reviews, Writing Groups, and Good Writing Advice
Near the end of each year, I like to do a past-year review (courtesy of Tim Ferriss). This process has helped me identify what drains me and what motivates me so that I can focus on what I am most passionate about—helping you to be the best writer you can be.
For this process, I mostly follow Tim's advice, but I will personalize it in some way based on overall themes or challenges I've noticed from the past year. This year, I'm taking the process a bit deeper by adding a few (modified) questions I learned from Brian Johnson:
What did you love doing so much that you’d pay to do it?
When did you feel most in flow, fully engaged, and joyful?
What activities made you feel alive and leave you energized rather than drained?
What pursuits would you continue to do even if there were no external rewards?
I'm really looking forward to the insights I'll gain through this process.
Do you do yearly reviews? If so, what is your process? Hit reply and let me know.
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
💻 From My Desk
7 Great Reasons to Start a Writing Group
Writing is often a solitary practice. But continually connecting with other writers can be immensely helpful for your writing and writing process. If you are not already part of a writing group, here are 7 reasons to join (or start) one in the new year.
👓 Reading
What does good writing advice look like?
What distinguishes good writing advice from bad writing advice? In this article, the author shares how good writing advice presents options, is evidence-based, knows one size doesn't fit all, neither ignores nor obsesses over rules, recognizes the human, and recognizes that writers vary.
“The Best Home for This Paper”: A Qualitative Study of How Authors Select Where to Submit Manuscripts
"In medical education, our findings reinforce previously identified factors such as fit with the scope of the journal, journal quality and reputation, journal audience, and technical factors (e.g., turnaround time). However, there are also deviations. Notably, our findings emphasize the role of social factors, relationships and personal experiences in journal selection. Additionally, we observed increased consideration of OA [open access] and a shift away from an emphasis on journal prestige…”
HHS Finalizes Rule on Research Misconduct to Foster Research Integrity
"…the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), finalized the 2024 Public Health Service (PHS) Policies on Research Misconduct. This rule updates the 2005 regulation and clarifies requirements for addressing research misconduct in PHS-funded research.” Read the full article to get highlights on the updates.
💬 Quote
"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." – C.S. Lewis
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
