Two days ago, I got my lovely copy of the splendiferous new book Science Blogging: The Essential Guide. I immediately commenced to reading it, annotating it, and beating the hell out of it.
So far, my biggest takeaway is: I gotta get this goddamn blog on a consistent schedule.
(Also, the authors of the book– who I collectively consider to be the closest thing science journalism has to The Order of the Phoenix– point to a lot of trends I’ve noticed and writing strategies I’ve realized are helpful, which is pretty darn validating.)
So from now on, come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet, Thursday 3:00 pm is my deadline for hitting publish on a new post.
Even if I have a bunch of assignments (*fingers crossed*) or get kidnapped by a Remote-Control Christmas Pterodactyl and end up having to throw together a housekeeping post like this one, I gotta post. (Hold me to it, mmmkay Tweeps?)
I’ll also be redirecting a lot of my meta-ramblings about writing, journalism, and the state of the non-sciencey world to my Medium account, so follow me there.
Of course, I won’t be dropping the “Personal Response” sections from the recaps, and I will be adding a new blog column called “Pitch Imperfect” where I share science stories that I pitched as science news stories but didn’t quite sell. The 1st “Pitch Imperfect” stories will involve octopuses, a thing I call “epigenetic calculus”, and an inside look at the “sacks of grease” that enclose our cells, so keep an eye out!
And finally, if you’re in Boston or Cambridge, MA, I am still running the Crow Calendar. It is now a Google Calendar! (click here to access it. )
The number of events I’m able to add will vary depending on my assignment load. I usually add events over the weekend, although that can change if I’m away at a conference.
If you’re into crashing talks in Boston, Fred Hapgood also posts a truly excellent list on his site! (His list tends to skew more toward engineering & physics, while I skew toward biology, but the overlap is huge.)
I gotta get back to my pitches, but be sure to check back for futureThursday posts.
