有效利用你的写作时间
Highlights from Chapter 10 in <<The Craft of Scientific Writing>> by Michael Alley
1. Scientific writing is hard work.
No matter how many times you revise a document, you will find phrases that will not sound quite right and the beginnings of sentences in which you feel compelled to state five details at once.
Scientific writing is often lonely work.
Writing a scientific document demands energy.
Strong scientific writing also demands imagination.
Reading makes you knowledgeable, presentations make you ready, and writing makes you exact.
2. The general process of writing: preparing, drafting, revising, and finishing.
Understand your audience, purpose, and occasion.
Length directly affects depth, which in turn affects other aspects of style.
3. Preparation puts you into a position to succeed
Scientific writing is a craft that requires preparation, disciplined schedule.
The first thing you should do before writing is to clear your mind via walking, running, sleep, cycling, etc.
4. For long documents, draft at least one page a day
The key to writing first drafts is momentum.
Success in scientific writing does not depend on a single burst of inspiration but the patient building of one sentence upon another.
1) First, set realistic goals. Writing one page per day maintains your momentum.
A page a day is a book a year. A page a day is a journal paper in a month. A day is a thesis in a semester.
2) Second, end your sittings by writing into the next section.
3) Third, watch what you eat.
4) Finally, when you finish a draft, store it on your computer under a separate file name.
Ninety-five percent of the actual writing of the document is the methodical crafting of one idea upon another.
5. Revising allows writers who struggle to create documents that excel
Revision is the key to strong scientific writing.
Best method of revising:
1) First, change the look of your document when you revise.
2) Second, try to work through large chunks in each sitting.
3) Third, get a good night’s sleep between each revision.
4) Finally, solicit criticism of your writing.
6. Finishing focuses on correcting, not on improving
Spell-checker should supplement, rather than replace, your own careful proofreading.