In the past decade or so, my personal research methods and writing methods have also changed a lot, and naturally there are new gains and new perceptions.Remember when I said:
"Publishing papers through peer review is the most important way for scientists to inform and communicate their research progress to peers, an important way to show their existence as a researcher, and a first sign of completion, or at least phased results.”
"Academic papers are the condensation and sublimation of scientific research ideas, research work and conclusions, and are a major manifestation of the author's academic level, academic identity or research value.”
These words seem to be correct now.
So, how can you complete the paper more effectively?When will you "formally" start writing?
The whole research work can be roughly divided into two stages, corresponding to "do" (research) and "write" (article).
In the "do" stage, there is only a vague or shallow understanding of the problem at the beginning; with the deepening of the research, there are various thoughts, attempts, calculations, analysis, or twists and turns, or re-starts, or moves forward with force.The process will produce a lot of "useful" and "no" information or materials, so it can correspond to "thin to thick" in scientific research, and the task of "writing" stage is to straighten out the messy and thick information.
In the "do" stage, you can record all kinds of thoughts, inspiration and ideas at any time, "good memory is not as good as bad writing"!But it's not writing, it's writing at best.Before writing, it should be based on the accumulated information to understand the scientific connotation of the problem and data, to rationalize the main scientific conclusions, and to extract the research highlights.In this way, you can enter a new phase of writing.
The following content is based on my experience in recent years, and on the other hand, I learned from the lecture series on "Writing in Science" by Professor Kristin Sainani of Stanford University.The fact that there are some coincidences between the two reinforces my understanding of how to write effectively.
In short, "writing" can be subdivided into three sub-stages, corresponding to "material preparation or information organization", "first draft writing" and "modification and improvement".
The proportion of time used in each stage is roughly 7:1:2.The first stage should take as much time as possible to think about the framework, ideas and materials needed before writing the first draft, and the second stage should take as little time as possible, not to say that it is important to complete the first draft.
(Phase 1:7) Why prepare materials on the basis of the previous "thickening"?What are the main areas of information or information collection?
First of all, we need to correct the motivation.The unknown nature of scientific exploration determines that the motivation for starting the study in the first place is likely to be just a clue, and the findings or conclusions obtained do not necessarily "match" exactly.At this time, it is necessary to rationalize the motivation of the research, read the literature closely related to the conclusions, refine the relevant problems of the previous research, and find the appropriate motivation.During the reading process, attention should be paid to recording valuable information and citation sources.
It is also necessary to organize the framework of the article.Arrange the main contents of each chapter and each section around the main research conclusions obtained, or different aspects, or different processes.You can refer to the writing order of similar articles in the past.
Articles and charts need to be conceived and prepared.The text or the result part basically follows the "look at the picture and talk" way of the text, so the chart arrangement basically defines the trend and main content of the article.At this stage, it is not necessary to prepare a "print" version of the picture, and it may be modified or even replaced when writing later.In general, it is recommended to use the Powerpoint tool to piece together graphics to facilitate the guide to better conceptualize the framework and main content of the article.
Be familiar with the materials and information obtained, and think twice about the structure and main points of the article.You can also introduce and discuss your research to roommates, colleagues and peers, i.e., present it in a "speech" way, or "think" way, such as walking or standing in line, and repeat the main content of the article in your head.It is only by "clearly in the chest" that you are ready for the next stage of writing.
In the process of thinking and preparing, use "bad pen", audio pen or mobile phone, etc. to record thoughts and sentences that come out of your head at any time.These records, in the later stage of modification and improvement, will be very useful, can be "missing and filling".
(Second stage: 1) After feeling "clear in the chest", you can only write with a pen.This stage emphasizes that "the talent springs to mind, one at a time."All kinds of preparation in the early stage, in order to have mature ideas and enough material in writing, only in this way can you play the word "fast" trick.Fast action can be completed in two or three days, and slow action can take a week or two or more.If the idea is blocked and cannot be "made", it means that the preparation is insufficient.For example, writing two sentences is not enough information, so you need to re-read the literature, or if you can't hold up a paragraph for a few days, you should give up writing and go back to the previous stage to continue preparing.
The whole process of writing the first draft is probably the process of the information stored in the brain flowing through the tip of the pen, and the hand and brain become one.The goal is to present accumulated information and clues in the head, that is, to logically present the preliminary reserves: not to seek syntactic perfection, but to seek narrative integrity, overall logic, paragraphs are orderly, and meaning expression is complete.
There is no need to "write while changing": syntax is perfect and text is refined, which is the task that needs to be completed in the third stage.
If the amount of information is too large, it can be completed in chapters, such as the introduction, methodology, results, and discussion.You can set "small goals," such as writing a few paragraphs a day, to make the process as "easy" and "self-rewarding" as possible.
According to personal habits, direct pen and paper "cursive", so fast and does not affect thinking.If you use a computer, you may need to choose characters from time to time, which affects the flow of ideas, and may also be disturbed by other information on the computer.
It should be emphasized once again that it can only be done in a single breath with sufficient preparation and deliberation.
(2) The purpose of this stage is to continuously revise and improve the "first draft".
Correct all kinds of mistakes, revise grammar, sentence pattern, logic repeatedly; follow the principle of "use the simplest words to express the most clear meaning" to refine and simplify the text.In many cases, the text of the first draft can be greatly simplified, such as the usual reduction from 5000 words to 3500 words; in a word, if deleted does not affect the meaning, it should be deleted.
Don't make sentences too round, paragraphs too long, etc. are the basic writing principles of the "old-fashioned" style.
You can try to read aloud, and the neural links that humans listen to, read, and see are different, and the effects of "listening," "reading," and "seeing" are naturally different.
Students, colleagues, peers, etc. may be invited to review, and point out areas that are not clear or clear.In fact, you can't change a word, you can finish the draft or ask a high-ranking person to revise it, and improve your writing ability through comparative learning.
Through the above three processes, you can complete the second stage of scientific research "thick to thin" and realize the "thickness and thinness", and the knowledge you have discovered or created will be neatly condensed and logical.
Postscript: The writing of this blog also follows the above three processes.Just two days ago, I did an on-campus report on how graduate students research and write, giving me the opportunity to re-prepare and think about materials; it took me half an evening, most of the morning, from handwriting my first draft to typing on a computer.But I'm writing too badly and I don't want to show it here.