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Welcome to the chapter newsletter for April 2024.
CHAPTER NEWS
CHAPTER NEWS
Join our AMWA North Central LinkedIn Community! Link here.
FEATURES
FEATURES
CHAPTER NEWS
CHAPTER NEWS
Member Survey
Member Survey
We kindly request your participation in a brief member survey focused on our chapter newsletter. By taking a few minutes to complete the survey, you will help us tailor the newsletter’s content to better meet your needs and preferences. Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Book Club Meeting (April 22, 2024)
Book Club Meeting (April 22, 2024)
Our (virtual) book club will meet on April 22nd at 7 pm to discuss Lifespan: Why We Age—And Why We Don’t Have To by David A. Sinclair with Matthew LaPlante. Sinclair is a researcher and discoverer of sirtuins, a group of genes that regulate aging processes in cells. He is also the founder of a company that markets resveratrol, a sirituin activator. His book describes how such compounds can mitigate aging and presents a wide-ranging discussion on how we might extend human lifespans.
Please join us for an interesting discussion that we hope will be our last virtual book club for 2024. Our final book club will be held in person on September 23, 2024, and participants will also select the books for 2025.
In-Person Tour of Mayo Clinic (Saturday, May 18)
In-Person Tour of Mayo Clinic (Saturday, May 18)
AMWA Member LeAnn Stee works at Mayo Clinic and has graciously offered to lead a small group on a tour of the Mayo Clinic Rochester. The tour will begin at 10:30 am on Saturday, May 18, and will last for approximately 90 minutes. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to laurachapin@amwanorthcentral.org Additional details will be sent to those who confirm their spot.
West Metro Medical Writers Social Hour
West Metro Medical Writers Social Hour
Nissa Mollema, Todd Sparks, and Michael Franklin met on March 16, 2024, at the Caribou Coffee in Lunds & Byerlys. They spent the hour sharing stories and career advice. While these social hours are in the west metro of the Twin Cities, everyone is welcome to attend. To join the informal email list for planning future event times and locations, please contact Michael Franklin at franklin.editing@gmail.com.
Chapter Members Looking for Work
Chapter Members Looking for Work
The following AMWA North Central Chapter members are looking for work. If you know someone who’s hiring, please reach out to them!
Sarah Kuyack, Medical Writer (skuyack@gmail.com)
Areas of interest: patient education, public health communication, website content, mental health, veterinary or human medicine
Job type: full or part time, contract, freelance
Kristen Hutchison (kristen.hutchison1@gmail.com)
If you’d like to add your name to this list, please contact the Publications Committee Chair Michael Franklin at franklin.editing@gmail.com.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Grammar Talk: Dashes and Hyphens
Grammar Talk: Dashes and Hyphens
By Tess Van Ee
Dashes are the Ferris Bueller of the grammar world. They look cool and break conventional sentence structuring for dramatic effect, but getting carried away with them might get a writer in trouble.
Here, we’ll discuss ways medical writers can use dashes and their little cousin, the hyphen, while staying within the rules.
Em vs. En vs. hyphen: What’s the difference?
Em vs. En vs. hyphen: What’s the difference?
The most obvious difference between dashes and the hyphen is visual. An em dash is as wide as a capital M, and an en dash is as wide as an N. The hyphen is the shortest of the three.1
Em dashes are typically used to set apart a clause for emphasis, summarize a list, or change direction mid-sentence. En dashes can replace words like “to,” “through,” “from,” or “between” and connect complex compound modifiers. Hyphens most commonly connect compound adjectives.1-3
Medical writing and dashes
Medical writing and dashes
Although dashes appear frequently in informal writing, they are less widely used in formal writing, including many types of medical writing.2,4
According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style (11th edition), the only acceptable use for the en dash in medical writing is to clarify complex modifiers, such as “post–Cold War idealism.” Similarly, the style guide suggests using em dashes sparingly and replacing them with colons and semicolons wherever possible.4
This follows the same reasoning as other medical writing rules: that grammar should clarify meaning. Because em and en dashes have so many uses, they can be misread (and misused).
Are dashes done for?
Are dashes done for?
Just because the AMA doesn’t like dashes doesn’t mean we should stop using them in informal writing. Dashes can enliven writing in a way that commas or semicolons can’t—when used correctly. And if we all start using them consistently, maybe someday they will make their way into a future edition of the style guide.
Note: Em and en dashes can be hard to find on keyboards. Here’s a little cheat sheet for typing each dash.
How to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–), and hyphens (-). Merriam-Webster. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/em-dash-en-dash-how-to-use
Luo A. Em dash (—) vs. en dash (–) | How to use in sentences. Scribbr. Revised October 20, 2023. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/dashes/
Osmond C. En dash (en rule)—When to use it (with examples). Grammarist. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://grammarist.com/grammar/en-dash/
Hyphens and dashes in AMA style. Knowadays. Published June 6, 2021. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://knowadays.com/blog/hyphens-and-dashes-in-ama-style/
Read a Good Book? Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Read a Good Book? Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
By Paul W. Mamula, PhD
For a satirical novel about writing and publishing, I would highly recommend Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. Kuang is a young author who writes science fiction and fantasy and signed her first book deal in college.1 Yellowface offers a fast-paced tale that is hard to put down. The novel’s main character, a white author named June Hayward, recounts the tale that traces what happens when her Chinese American friend Athena Liu dies in a freakish accident and June steals her unpublished manuscript. The women had been friends in college and were both were writers, although their careers diverged. Athena had become a successful author, while June was struggling to get published.
After reworking the stolen manuscript about Chinese laborers during World War I, June sells it to a publisher and works with in-house editors to get the book released under her new nom de plume, Jennifer Song, an Asian sounding name. While working with the publisher, June must justify elements of the book to Candice, a Korean American editor, who is hired to help prepare the book for publication and who becomes increasingly hostile as the work progresses. The conflicts grow and illuminate many aspects about authorship, publishing, white privilege, and race. Because June is white, she is accused of cultural appropriation. Of course, she can’t admit that the original manuscript was written by an Asian and squirms as she justifies the theft (to herself), agrees to multiple reedits, and endures the novel’s marketing. The juxtaposition of the author, editor, and publisher highlights the conflicts and exposes underlying problems within the publishing industry.
I found the cultural aspects driving the tale riveting, with the racial tension between Candice and June setting up a tautly paced tale. Kuang draws some of the book from her experience as an Asian American author, but the inside tales of publishing, reviews, social media, and book sales in her novel give the book some heft. It also has a few interesting takes on how books get sold, treatment of nonwhite authors, and the paths to successful writing. Those interested in Kuang’s views can read a recent interview.2 One can also read a sample of the reviews written last year (favorable and less so).1,3
I liked Yellowface and found aspects about online reviews and publishers’ relationships with authors delicious fun. It reminded me of other books whose authors write novels with the inside knowledge of how things work (e.g., Allegra Goodman’s Intuition about misbehavior in science).
Finally, two additional surprising facts gleaned from author interviews and the dustcover: Kuang is a successful fantasy writer, having written the multiple award-nominated Poppy War trilogy and the New York Times bestseller Babel. The author is also currently pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literature at Yale University.
References
Gadway HE. Yellowface Review: Fast-paced Critique at Times Falters. The Harvard Crimson. May 2, 2023 ‘Yellowface’ Review: Fast-Paced Critique at Times Falters | Arts | The Harvard Crimson [Accessed February 15, 2023]
Buchwald RM. R.F. Kuang on Yellowface, Tokenization and Constant Comparison. Elle May 22, 2023 R. F. Kuang on ‘Yellowface’, Tokenization, and Asian Representation [accessed February 15, 2024]
Williams C. R. ‘Yellowface’ takes white privilege to a sinister level. NPR News May 15, 2023 R.F. Kuang’s ‘Yellowface’ takes white privilege to a sinister level : NPR [Accessed February 15, 2024]
Questions, comments or new additions to the newsletter? Please contact the Publications Committee Chair.
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