How a Chapter is Born
Plus, a theme song on what it feels like to be a draft
Right now, nearly 200 authors across the country are doing something that looks deceptively simple: writing.
From offices to quiet kitchens, busy labs to crowded coffee shops, they are crafting the second drafts of their chapters for a first-of-its-kind national assessment of how nature supports life in the United States — and how we, in turn, support or diminish the systems that sustain us.
The project brings together researchers, practitioners, knowledge holders, and business leaders — people who don’t always share the same language or lens. It’s an exercise in collaboration at a national scale, where many ways of seeing the world are shaped into one shared story.
And if you’ve ever tried to co-write anything with more than one person, you know what an audacious idea that is. This is the story of how we make it happen.
The architecture of understanding
Each chapter of The Nature Record national assessment begins with a question: What do we most need to understand about this piece of the story of nature and people?
That question becomes a set of key messages: short, evidence-based statements that summarize what’s known, what’s new, and why it matters. Each key message is supported by analysis, data, and debate. Together, they form the backbone of the assessment — a structure built not just on science, but on dialogue and trust.
The process is rigorous, and consensus rarely comes quickly. But with dialogue, ideas sharpen, perspectives stretch, and what began as information grows into wisdom.
Drafting, revising, refining
Once the framework is in place, the writing begins.
Drafting a chapter like this is part synthesis, part endurance test. Dozens of authors merge evidence from hundreds of studies into a single, coherent story. It’s a process equal parts brilliance and cat herding, and somehow, it works
The Technical Support Unit — based at North Carolina State University and made up of science writers, editors, artists, designers, and project managers — works with The Nature Record staff to review each chapter. They look for clarity and coherence: Are the key messages aligned? Is the writing accessible? Does the story hold together across chapters?
Their feedback sends the authors back to the page, refining language, strengthening evidence, and tightening the threads that tie the story together. The Secretariat adds another layer of review, helping ensure that each piece fits seamlessly into the larger whole. Authors return once more to revise.
It’s a laborious process — slow, deliberate, and sometimes exhausting. But that’s the point. When you take your time building the foundation, what rises above it is stronger, steadier, and built to last.
From document to dialogue
Once the internal reviews are complete, the chapters will move into two parallel tracks of feedback in early 2026. One is the external peer review by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) — a rigorous, independent evaluation that tests each chapter for quality, balance, and clarity, ensuring the assessment reflects the highest standards of scientific integrity.
We will also open the process to public engagement through a series of webinars, listening sessions, and community meetings held across the country, where people share how the findings resonate with their own experiences of nature and change. These conversations are candid and often surprising, reminding us that science, at its best, listens as much as it explains.
With feedback from both the NASEM reviewers and the public in hand, the authors return to their chapters, refining language, tightening arguments, and strengthening the evidence that supports each key message. The goal is not only to make the assessment accurate and credible, but also clear, compelling, and capable of inspiring solutions.
As the chapters near completion, the Technical Support Unit returns for a final polish — refining tone and consistency, balancing the voices of hundreds into a single, coherent whole. The Secretariat then conducts its closing review, ensuring that every chapter aligns with the vision and standards of The Nature Record.
Why this work matters
The Nature Record exists because the challenges we face — from climate change to biodiversity loss — are too complex for any one discipline, agency, or worldview to solve alone.
Each chapter, and each key message within it, contributes to a collective effort to understand what nature means to this country: how it sustains us, how it’s changing, and what we can do about it.
The process is imperfect, sometimes frustrating, and deeply human. But it’s also proof that when people take the time to listen, debate, write, and revise together, understanding deepens.
That’s how a chapter is born.
Author’s Note
To the dozens of authors, artists, editors, and partners helping bring The Nature Record to life — thank you. This work takes patience and faith: the patience to wrestle with complexity, and the faith that understanding is possible in a noisy world. As the chapters move into review and public dialogue, we’ll keep sharing the story of how it all comes together. And if you need a smile along the way, we created a song, “I’m Just a Draft.” It’s a reminder that every draft, even in progress, has its own kind of music.