Interlude: Crumbling Sentences, Silent Letters, and the Best of 2024
It's hard to believe that 2024 is nearly over. What a year it's been! When I look back at the events of the year and all the things I appreciate, YOU are at the top of my list.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading my newsletter every week. And thank you for your incredible replies to share your thoughts, experiences, and recommendations.
I appreciate you. And I can't wait to continue this journey with you in the new year.
Now onto the last round-up of 2024...
💌 Round-up
🎉 Featured
Crumbling Sentences: Isolated and Expletive Pronouns Weaken the Foundation of Clear Medical Writing
I'm delighted to share my recent publication in the AMWA Journal. In the article, I discuss how clear subjects help readers maintain forward momentum in the story, how isolated pronouns and expletive pronouns create unclear writing, and how you can revise these pronouns to make the reader's job easy.
💻 From My Desk
Top 10 Scientific and Medical Writing Articles in 2024
At the end of each year, I review which of my resource articles were most read during the past year. This review helps me learn what resources you find most useful so that I can create more resources to help you become the best writer you can be. This article includes my 10 most-read articles on scientific and medical writing in 2024.
👓 Reading
There’s no best way to write something
“One of the more important, and empowering, realizations a developing writer can come to is that there are many good ways to write something, and the job isn’t to find a unicorn-level perfect way but to find one of the many good ways. That’s much easier, and when approached with the right mindset can even be a lot of fun. . .Why isn’t there a single best way of writing something? The biggest reason, I think, is that there isn’t a single reader. . .In many cases, though, we can look to data to discover that some practices are more effective than others (or at least that some reader preferences are more common than others).”
🖥️ Watching
Who else wants a Silent Letter Day?
The English language is full of words that contain silent letters. In this comedy sketch, Michael McIntyre shares how we might celebrate a Silent Letter Day when all the silent letters can come out to play. This sketch is definitely worth the watch.
🧰 Tools
Lose the Very
I often recommend that authors omit adjectives and adverbs and choose strong verbs instead. When you are tempted to use the adverb very (or similar terms), this tool will help you find alternative words you can use instead.
Thank you so much for reading.
Wishing you a joyful end to this year and abundant success in the new year. I'll see you in 2025!
Warmly,
Crystal
