2023 writing in brief

Some highlights from 32 posts

I hope you’ve had a good end to the year!

Earlier in 2023, I made the decision to switch from posting Twitter threads to collating my thoughts on Substack then sharing across platforms. Although it had been nice to see increasing numbers of people finding my Twitter posts useful in recent years, the social media landscape has changed dramatically. Among other things, I didn’t want to end up endlessly hopping from Twitter to Mastodon to Bluesky to Threads to LinkedIn, like a disorganised partygoer who’s left their New Year planning too late and ends up at a dwindling house party two trains and a taxi away.

So in case you’ve recently subscribed, or have missed some previous posts, or just end up with a long second train journey this evening, here is a recap of some of things I’ve been writing about this year…

Useful rules of thumb

• How to sense check numbers. Six quick rules of thumb for growth and proportions.

• Three principles for epidemic dynamics. How to get quick insights into importations, transmission and reporting.

Network dynamics in real-life and online

• Going viral. The surprising road to millions of YouTube views.

• The paradox that links epidemiology and sociology. Why outbreaks persist and why your friends are, on average, more popular than you.

Understanding the dynamics of COVID

• What next for COVID evolution? Untangling the mysteries of antigenic turnover.

• Is COVID now a ‘winter virus’? And why are infections seasonal anyway?

How we should tackle the next major disease threat

• Out of time. Epidemics can end before we learn what works.

• 11 global reflections on local COVID responses. Among the damage and disruption, some positives to reflect on.

The art and science of communication

• Doors to worlds. Drafting the perfect opening sentence.

• 5 things you may not know about the media. Some unusual lessons I've picked up across hundreds of interviews.

How the theory of large language models links to other aspects of life

• Learning from seeing. We can’t always articulate what we want.

• Transforming language models into domain specialists. Some adventures in embedding land.

The practice of scientific research and how we can do it better

• Why Twitter was so valuable for pandemic science. Reflecting on the positives among many negatives.

• Invisible code slows down science. Why we need incentives to improve sharing.

Advice for scientific writing and grants

• Some tips for scientific writing. Don’t let bad documents undermine good data.

• Some tips for research grants. Reflections on some successes and many failures.

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And with that, I’ll say thanks again for subscribing and wishing you a happy start to 2024.