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| people:etanter:writing-tips [2012/09/05 14:07] – etanter | people:etanter:writing-tips [2018/06/10 08:14] (current) – etanter |
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| Over the years, I have started to find myself repeating the same things again and again about how to write a paper. Most of it I learnt from [[http://www.emn.fr/noye/|Jacques Noyé]] while I was doing my PhD thesis. The rest I learnt by interacting with students and colleagues, and reading other similar pages on the web, about how to write a thesis, present papers, etc. | Over the years, I have started to find myself repeating the same things again and again about how to write a paper. Most of it I learnt from [[http://www.emn.fr/noye/|Jacques Noyé]] while I was doing my PhD thesis. The rest I learnt by interacting with students and colleagues, and reading other similar pages on the web, about how to write a thesis, present papers, etc. |
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| Writing papers is an art, it requires practice and dedication. Unfortunately, we we were not taught about it when we studied at school. As a researcher though, it is vital to master it. Don't forget, a good idea badly explained is not worth a penny (at least not a publication). So as a wanna-be researcher, you should consider this dimension of the work seriously, and be willing to dedicate yourself to it up to the point where you enjoy it (and others do too!). | Writing papers is an art, it requires practice and dedication. Unfortunately, we were not taught about it when we studied at school. As a researcher though, it is vital to master it. Don't forget, a good idea badly explained is not worth a penny (at least not a publication). So as a wanna-be researcher, you should consider this dimension of the work seriously, and be willing to dedicate yourself to it up to the point where you enjoy it (and others do too!). |
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| <note warning> | |
| //If you are a student working with me, do not hand me a draft of a paper/report without having gone carefully through all these points.// | |
| </note> | |
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| * **Polish your English.** International research uses the English language. Nothing is more annoying for a native speaker to read a paper written in bad English (even for non-native speakers, it hurts). The first step to getting your paper accepted, is to produce an "acceptable" paper. Of course, "readable" is a good starting point! Check basic things: tense (use present tense), grammar, be sure that verbs and subjects match, that each verb has a subject (¡no es castellano!), etc. Use a spell-checker. Don't hesitate to frequently consult a good dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar book (if your English is sufficiently advanced, monolingual books are a good idea). Go on the web, buy books, read, learn. [Btw, thanks to Ren Cerro for correcting my own English in this page!] | * **Polish your English.** International research uses the English language. Nothing is more annoying for a native speaker to read a paper written in bad English (even for non-native speakers, it hurts). The first step to getting your paper accepted, is to produce an "acceptable" paper. Of course, "readable" is a good starting point! Check basic things: tense (use present tense), grammar, be sure that verbs and subjects match, that each verb has a subject (¡no es castellano!), etc. Use a spell-checker. Don't hesitate to frequently consult a good dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar book (if your English is sufficiently advanced, monolingual books are a good idea). Go on the web, buy books, read, learn. [Btw, thanks to Ren Cerro for correcting my own English in this page!] |
| * **Clearly identify the reusable brain stuff.** ([[http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/simonpj/|Simon Peyton-Jones]]) Most probably, people are not interested in the actual prototype you are building. Rather, you should make clear what the "intellectual added value" (aka. reusable brain stuff) of your work is. What do I learn from this work, that can be applied and reused in other contexts? For this you must make a specific effort to filter out the details from the essence. | * **Clearly identify the reusable brain stuff.** ([[http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/simonpj/|Simon Peyton-Jones]]) Most probably, people are not interested in the actual prototype you are building. Rather, you should make clear what the "intellectual added value" (aka. reusable brain stuff) of your work is. What do I learn from this work, that can be applied and reused in other contexts? For this you must make a specific effort to filter out the details from the essence. |
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| * **A thesis(/paper) is not finished when there is nothing more to add.** ([[http://www.diku.dk/~eric|Eric Jul]]) It is finished when there is nothing more to remove. Every single sentence/paragraph/section is a candidate for removal. Does it add something useful or necessary? Does it detract from the main argument? | * **A thesis or paper is not finished when there is nothing more to add.** ([[http://www.diku.dk/~eric|Eric Jul]], channeling [[https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry|Antoine de Saint Exupéry]]) It is finished when there is nothing more to remove. Every single sentence/paragraph/section is a candidate for removal. Does it add something useful or necessary? Does it detract from the main argument? |
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| * **Adopt structured and modular writing.** A major challenge is to organize the flow of ideas coherently. Analyze the structure and the dependencies between the different sentences/paragraphs/sections. Avoid repetitions. Prefer back references to forward references. Don't be afraid of refactoring! | * **Adopt structured and modular writing.** A major challenge is to organize the flow of ideas coherently. Analyze the structure and the dependencies between the different sentences/paragraphs/sections. Avoid repetitions. Prefer back references to forward references. Don't be afraid of refactoring! |
