New ICJS Format
A few updates and an invitation to write
Hi everyone! I wanted to share a few updates about ICJS and at the same time encourage you to make science writing a part of your Summer.
TLDR: Join this WhatsApp Group and the new Writing Board to get involved with ICJS writing projects.
Since the start in 2020 ICJS has run like a college science journal - members draft articles, submit them, they go through several rounds of editing, and publish online. This worked very well for a few years, but I think it is time that we evolve.
I’ve been considering for a while how we can update our existing format and make it both simpler + more flexible for writers and also more manageable for the editing, publishing, and marketing teams.
So here is the plan to start fresh:
I’ve set up a WhatsApp group with a shared ‘writing log’. The idea is that when you make a little bit of progress on a writing project (even if you’re just reading an article that you think could be interesting to write about), you take 30 seconds and share a very brief post in the writing log. There are some examples there already. The point is to motivate us all to write a bit more consistently - kind of like a running club where people share their routes and splits.
In addition, we have a new visual writing board - the point of this is to map out the sources and sections of your ongoing writing projects (each member gets their own lane on the board). This will help us feel like we’re writing as a community and give newer writers an inside look at what the writing process can look like. I’ve made writing guides in the past that are probably way too long to read :) but I think this will be a more effective form of guidance. There are examples on the board of articles in progress and potential topics if you want ideas.
Instead of publishing everything on the ICJS website as we have been doing (which is now starting to run very slowly because we have published so many articles over the past few years), every writer will start their own Substack newsletter or work with others on a collaborative newsletter. There are a number of successful newsletters started by ICJS members over the past couple years that you can use as models.
This way everyone gets their own personal platform to write in whatever format about whatever topic they like. It’s okay if you don’t have a clear focus for your newsletter right away - you can just start writing on whatever interests you, send out posts, and figure out the focus later. It’s relatively easy to change the newsletter name and visual appearance
We are always here to help if you have any questions about setting up a newsletter, creating posts, and getting into the habit of writing on a regular basis.
If you have any questions - please feel free to reach out. You can contact me in the WhatsApp group or via email (we’re moving out of Slack because it was never all that great about notifications, but if you want we can connect there as well)
Happy Summer! Hope you have some great things planned (and maybe a bit of time for writing)