Write, write, write… right?

As scientists, we must write in order to communicate ideas, methodologies, results, and impacts. As my career has progressed, the time I have spent writing has increased while the time spent on other work has decreased. One must be able to write in order to be an effective scientist. A resource that I’ve found particularly useful is The Science of Scientific Writing (Gopen & Swan, 1990), which was given to me by my adviser and I now pass on to my graduate students.

Writing can be challenging, and in many cases, finding motivation can be the single biggest obstacle to overcome. Writing can feel lonely and nebulous. Therefore, I am passing on some tips and suggestions for improving the writing process that have been given to me.

It Gets Easier with Practice

The first suggestion is to practice. Like any skill, writing gets easier the more you do it. Along those lines, writing may seem less daunting if you find a consistent block of time to do it each day. It can be especially effective to set aside a block of time in the morning (even 30 minutes) and try to get as much down on the page as possible. After that time, sometimes the writing will be going so well that you won’t want to stop. Other times, you will not have found any sort of groove and will be ready to move onto something else immediately. Both outcomes are fine; it’s the effort that counts. It can also be helpful to think of writing as being similar to exercise—those first few minutes can be agonizing, but after you warm up and get in a rhythm, everything can start to flow. And just like exercise, once you start getting fatigued, it is a good idea to take a break and do something else.

Another good technique is to not stop at a hard point. If we aren’t sure what to write next or how to describe something, it’s a natural inclination to stop writing and move onto something else, hoping that inspiration will strike in the future. What actually happens is that, knowing we are stuck, we find it much easier to procrastinate and not work on writing at all. If you find yourself in this situation, it can be helpful to get yourself back into a writing groove by working on another text or a different section. I’ve also found that a well-timed walk to the water fountain or coffee pot can be the perfect means to figure out how to tackle a challenging piece of text.

Good Readers Make Good Writers

Finally, it’s been said that one of the best ways to be a good writer is to be a good reader. So, read as much as you can. This effort may entail reading good papers from your own field, textbooks, magazines, fiction, or whatever interests you. The more broadly you read, the easier you may find it to express your ideas.

To recap, there are many strategies one can use to become a more consistent and motivated writer. Some of the most important include: read a lot, write a lot, write even if you don’t feel the motivation to do so, write if you aren’t sure what you want to say, but above all, just write!