Interlude: Shiny "Shoulds," Page Limits, and Language Clarity

I have a confession. I have a case of shiny object syndrome.

Since I started Redwood Ink, I've had so many ideas for resources—guides, tools, courses—to help scientists, clinicians, and the writers and editors who support them.

In a way, I feel like my mind is spiraling with shiny "shoulds."

• Should I start a podcast?

• Should I write that article that's been sitting in the back of my mind?

• Should I build the course I've been thinking about for the past 5 years?

At times, it feels overwhelming, and I'm not sure what to create first. So I hesitate...or impulsively create what I'm envisioning.

But I also wonder, is shiny object syndrome really a problem? Or is it a signal of curiosity, creativity, and a scientific mindset wired for inquiry?

Maybe the goal isn't to stop the ideas, or to act on all of them at once. Maybe it's about capturing them, tending to them, and trusting that the right ones will rise when the time is right.

I suspect I'm not the only one with a running list of shiny "shoulds"—whether it's a proposal idea, an unwritten paper, or a career pivot you keep deferring.

What's your most recent shiny "should?" Hit reply—I read every one.

Now onto this week's round-up...

Round-up

From My Desk

​Over the Page Limit? Try These 5 Writing Strategies​
Page limits are a different challenge than word or character limits—and they require different strategies. In this video, I share 5 specific strategies you can use to condense your text to meet a page limit.

Reading

​Fabricated citations: an audit across 2·5 million biomedical papers​
"We present findings from a reference-integrity audit of 2·5 million biomedical papers spanning 3 years, showing that fabricated references are embedded in the peer-reviewed literature at scale, and that the rate of fabrication is accelerating.. . . The fabricated references we identified were not obviously defective: topically specific, correctly formatted, attributed to real researchers, and beared plausible publication dates.“

​What do editors of medical journals think about opportunities and barriers to advancement in the publication of plain language summaries? A qualitative analysis​
"While most editors were supportive of, or invested in, publishing PLSs [plain language summaries], practical barriers to their implementation were consistently reported. These included barriers related to resourcing, organisational commitment from publishers, difficulties assessing PLS readership and reach, and a lack of clearly defined roles, commitment and relevant skills among authors, peer-reviewers and editors. The future of PLSs was considered important in terms of adapting to emerging technologies such as AI, making use of innovative formats for PLSs to cater for a more diverse audience, and acknowledging some unexplored distribution channels including via consumer groups and social media.”

Listening

​The case for language clarity, with Iva Cheung​
In this episode of the Grammar Girl podcast, Iva Cheung, a plain language expert, describes what plain language actually means and why it matters for health care, legal rights, and everyday communication—even for expert audiences. Then she explores cognitive load theory, the expertise reversal effect, and why most writers skip user testing.

Quote

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done." – Marie Curie

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal