This week is not only Thanksgiving, but also National Games and Puzzle Week; a week dedicated to celebrating all things games and puzzles and encouraging families to spend more time together. Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to relax with family, eat incredible food, and think about what you’re thankful for. Having that time off together […]

Life after a PhD… what do I do now? In the last year of your PhD leading up to your thesis submission, almost everyone you come across asks that dreaded question: what’s next? My ideal answer to that question: Sleep and go on a year-long holiday. My actual answer to that question: I have absolutely […]

STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — is part of our everyday lives. Here at Word Monster, we love all things STEM. We want to support the growing movement to promote STEM-based learning worldwide allowing children to explore an interest in STEM and expand their skill set.  STEM-based learning puts children at the core […]

As I sit down to write this with my cup of coffee, I have gone for a long walk, read a few chapters of my latest book, responded to emails, and am ready to tackle everything else the day throws at me. Oh, and it’s 6:30 am. I bet it sounded good until the 6:30 […]

Watching your favourite medical drama will help you learn a lot about the medical world — or at least, that’s what you’d think. Take a moment and think back to those kickass movies, TV shows and documentaries about the industry. What did all of them have in common? When it comes to medical communication, it […]

Black History Month is an annual celebration of the accomplishments of African Americans to the United States. Its origins date back to 1915, when historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded a group to recognise the contributions of African Americans, allowing more people to study and acknowledge Black history for the first time ever. Today, Black History […]

The goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day is to ‘make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’. The impact and experience of the COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on mental health and how important our mental wellbeing is, especially during times of turmoil. Mental health problems exist in our lives, families, […]

We all know the scene. It’s a scene that’s played out in households around the world every morning. Half-asleep, mindlessly stirring your coffee… stumbling over to put the teaspoon in the fridge… return the milk to the sink… sitting down, eagerly awaiting that first sip… only to discover that you’ve forgotten to boil the kettle/insert […]

“So… what do you do?” If you’re at a wedding or a networking event… or even making polite chat with the bloke servicing your boiler, chances are you’ve been asked this question at least a dozen times. I’ve been a medical writer for the best part of a decade, yet I still struggle to answer […]

It’s difficult to imagine a world without healthcare communications. Commercials, TV advertisements, articles featured in newspapers and journals, or brochures found at your local GP’s ­– the impact of Med Comms is undeniably strong nowadays, but this wasn’t always the case. For the past 40 years, the Med Comms field has experienced its most dramatic growth […]

Often enough, piecing together all of the elements that make an outstanding brief feel like solving a puzzle. You have the captivating title, an impeccable introduction to the therapy area that flows perfectly into the problem at hand, culminating with the efficacy of a wondrous treatment that’s long been needed. Sounds simple enough, right? It’s […]

Re-discovering childhood wonder (and stuffing it into your writing) The other day, I was on a ref pack job. So, I pencilled in a long lunchtime walk instead (only joking: it was a Veeva job). WHAM! Out of the blue, it took me by surprise, like a U-boat at a kids’ swimming pool. I had […]

Our universe is incredibly big, encompassing hundreds of billions of galaxies, each containing an unimaginably vast number of stars. But is our universe the only one? Lately, the word ‘multiverse’ has become a part of the regular lingo in pop culture (mostly thanks to Marvel) and if you are like me, you’ll throw the term […]

An associate medical writer’s adventure So, for the first time ever, you find yourself in the midst of the medical writing field, not having a clue how you got here or where the nearest tavern is. Perhaps one of your team members accidentally cast Plane Shift when you weren’t looking, or you walked through an […]

‘Like the photon is for electromagnetism, or the Higgs boson for gravity, so too are words the force carriers for thought. – Nobody, or, at least, nobody until just now OK, folks: this one’s interactive. You’ll need to grab a pen and paper (or your Word document), ‘cos it’s time to get serious. But not […]