Interlude: Bad Writing Days, AI in Publications, and What Audiences Want
I recently watched a TED talk in which Olympic runner Alexi Pappas shared how she got through a rough patch while training. When she struggled to meet a running goal, her coach told her it was just the Rule of Thirds.
According to her coach, you are not supposed to feel good about working toward a goal all the time. Instead, you’re supposed to feel good one-third of the time, okay one-third of the time, and bad one-third of the time. That’s the sweet spot.
If you feel good most of the time, you might not be pushing yourself enough. If you feel bad most of the time, you might be running yourself into the ground.
I think this Rule of Thirds is also a useful mindset for chasing a writing goal. Some days you might feel really productive. Other days you might feel unproductive and that you barely got anything done. Although those days can feel like failure, they’re not. They’re signals that you’re working toward a goal that matters.
So the next time you have a “bad” writing day, give yourself grace. It doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re doing important work.
Now onto this week's round-up...
Round-Up
Reading
Updated Guidance for Author Use of AI in Medical Publication
In this article, JAMA Network Journals offer guidance for the acceptable use of AI for conducting research, searching the literature, preparing manuscripts, checking grammar and spelling, translating text, drafting letters and opinions, populating bibliographic references, creating images and illustrations, developing video and audio, completing peer review, and more.
Artificial Intelligence in Medical Writing: A Practical and Ethical Framework for Surgical Research and Publication
”AI should be regarded as an adjunct to, not a substitute for, scientific reasoning and scholarly judgment. When used transparently and under expert supervision, AI can enhance the quality and efficiency of medical writing while preserving the central intellectual responsibilities of authorship, interpretation, verification, and accountability. As AI systems become increasingly autonomous, maintaining rigorous human oversight will become progressively more important.”
Presence and content of policies on the use of generative artificial intelligence in nursing journals indexed in PubMed: a descriptive study
”This analysis of 154 nursing journals demonstrated that 108 (70.1%) have established AI-related policies, revealing a discrepancy between global ethical guidance and operational implementation at the journal level. Although major ethics organizations emphasize human accountability and prohibit AI authorship, the absence of specific enforcement mechanisms remains a substantial challenge. To safeguard the integrity of nursing research, timely policy development by journals and publishers is essential. Such policies should extend beyond general statements to include clear review procedures and proportionate sanctions tailored to the ethical context of nursing scholarship.”
Watching
AI movies
Although this Instagram reel shows a skit about the debate on using AI to create movies, I’ve noticed a similar debate with using AI for writing. AI might help you writer cheaper or seemingly faster, but audiences actually don’t like reading writing generated by AI.
Quote
“A reader taking the time to sit down with my words, is an act of generosity. The very least I can do, is to make sure that I’m creating a book that is worthy of that generosity.” – Tiffany McDanial
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
