When possible, supplement reading of the published literature with serving as a reviewer of manuscripts for journal publication. Let journal editors and colleagues know that you are willing to serve as a reviewer for manuscripts in your areas of clinical or research expertise. Reading manuscripts in pre-publication stages demystifies the publication process and provides a realistic sense of how manuscripts are improved as they move through the review process. Network with colleagues within your institution and at professional meetings to create opportunities to write. Find out who in your local professional network edits journals relevant to your work.
Editors often welcome assistance, for example, with book reviews.
National networking through professional meetings can be equally fruitful. And book editors are often looking for authors for chapters on particular topics. Use professional presentations to develop publishable manuscripts. Oral presentations can be approached as successive drafts of a manuscript for publication. Tables and graphics appropriate for a final written manuscript can be developed first for an oral presentation.