What are Biology Writes retreats like?

They are half- or full-day events, on campus (in the beautiful Rubenstein Library on west campus), where you dedicate time for your writing and work in a community of fellow writers.

Sample schedule:

8:30 – 9AM:  Coffee, tea, and pastries

9:00 – 9:10:   Welcome and setting intentions

9:10 – noon: Designated writing time

Noon: Lunch at The Commons

1PM – 4PM: Designated writing time (snacks provided, gluten-free/dairy-free options available)

1PM – 4PM: Optional one-on-one consultations and/or feedback on your writing

 


What to bring

  • Bring materials related to a specific writing project—this could include a working draft, an outline, a call for proposals, a grant application, or even some writing ideas you’re trying to choose from for this workshop. Bring whatever you need to jump start your writing.
  • A charged laptop and power cord.
  • A sweater or light jacket for comfort in the air-conditioned rooms and walking/comfortable shoes if you would like to take a walking break or participate in the optional “walk and talk” consultations
  • Water bottle and coffee cup

What is involved in a 10-Day Writing Challenge?

The details:

  • Schedule 2-weeks for the challenge
  • Recruit friends, members of your lab, and co-authors to join you in the challenge
  • Block off time on your calendar for the challenge and protect that time
  • Each day of the challenge, you will get a reminder to log your progress (in a shared Google doc) and celebrate your writing streak

Spring 2024 dates:  Feb 26-March 8, 2024.  Members of the Duke Biology Department can sign up for the challenge here.

Summary of “ChatGPT for Academic Research: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Hannah Rozear (Duke Librarian for Biological Sciences & Global Health)

In case you missed it, Hannah Rozear (Duke Librarian for Biological Sciences & Global Health) gave a talk this week entitled ChatGPT for Academic Research: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (watch here). Here’s my summary:

The Good:  ChatGPT has the potential to:

  • accelerate your writing by
    • automating rote tasks (like writing the acknowledgements)
    • generating suggestions for better wording (like for article titles)
  • generate keywords and topic ideas (especially helpful for novices in a field)
  • improve writing by suggesting edits to your writing. It is very good at editing for
    • conciseness
    • organization
    • …but it sometimes changes the meaning so these edits should be taken as suggestions only

The Bad: GPT-4: AI does not have a way to access or search specific copyrighted or paywalled content on-demand. The AI model does not reproduce the entirety of copyrighted works or paywalled content but rather synthesizes the patterns and knowledge it has gained from various sources to generate human-like text.

The Ugly: Despite GPT-4’s capabilities, it maintains a tendency to:

  • make up facts and nonsensical content
  • double-down on incorrect information
  • perform tasks incorrectly
  • share your search history with strangers

What you can do to keep up…

  • PLAY with ChatGPT
  • TALK to your students and colleagues
  • READ/LISTEN/ ATTEND events (like this one sponsored by DLI)
  • EMBRACE & ADVOCATE for AI/algorithm literacy

 

Writer’s Spotlight: Sheng Yang He

“The best time to start writing is when you’ve done about 50% of your project. Don’t wait until you’ve finished 95% of your project to start writing because you’ll probably waste a lot of time if you do. By that time, a lot of data you collect may not be relevant to your narrative.                                                                                  Periodically you have to step back [from your bench work] to ask yourself: “What aspects of my project remain new and exciting?” By about midway through your project, you should start to see the big picture — which may be different than your original idea! — and you should focus your energy on that.”

Sheng Yang He, Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Veronica Ciocanel

“The writing that I’m most proud of was the same writing I struggled with most. It is a story  for Notices of the American Mathematical Society about the research I’ve done, why I find problems in biology to be interesting to mathematicians, and how I learned to work with interdisciplinary collaborators. It was very daunting — there’s so much vulnerability in telling your story.                                                                                   What really helped was participating in the spring 2022 faculty writing retreat. It was great to be part of a writing community — to come together, set goals, learn some strategies. But mostly it was great just having people there and establishing that this is what we’re doing for the day. Writing doesn’t have to be miserable!”

Veronica Ciocanel, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Paul Magwene

“What I’d like to say to new graduate students rotating in my lab is: ‘What you’re really going to be doing over the next 4 – 5 years is you’re going to write a lot, so let’s focus on that.’  But I think that would scare a lot of people off.                                                                                          Recently I did focus on writing with a rotation graduate student – which I had never done before – and it worked pretty well. I had an idea for a synthesis paper that I wanted to work on and he wanted to engage at that level. He reviewed the literature that is relevant to the work he’d do if he joined my lab and, although I guided him to topics that I wanted him to think about, the project was open enough that he could explore and incorporate his ideas. It was fun!  We had a live document and co-wrote it as a team.”

Paul Magwene, Professor of Biology, Duke University

Online writing groups

Join a small group of Duke faculty, postdocs, and graduate students — and a global community of writers — every weekday morning from 8-9AM for 50 minutes of focused writing hosted by the London Writers’ Salon.

The format is simple but powerful:

  • login every morning
  • say hello to our Duke community in the chat
  • set a writing goal for the hour
  • focus exclusively on this goal until the time is up

Email Julie (jar88 at duke dot edu) if you join so she can say hello!

Spring 2023 Writing Challenge!

Let’s start the year off right with a Spring 2023 Writing Challenge!

The goals are:

  • Create a departmental culture in which we support each other’s writing
  • Increase productivity and impact
  • Reduce stress around writing

 

The challenge is simple but powerful.

Each week I will invite you to join the conversation — participate as much or as little as you like.

I’ll share the results of this poll with you next week.

Writer’s Spotlight: Jean Philippe Gibert

“Writing is something that you have to do, but it can also a pretty daunting task with high stakes!                                                                                          Something that really helped me get my writing going back when I was a grad student was to define “writing” broadly. I read this book by Stephen King, and he said something that really resonated with me:  “Every time I’m thinking about writing, I’m writing.”                                                                                                            That really stuck with me!  Now, by the time I actually sit down to write a paper, I’ve already worked on it a lot.  That work happens sort of naturally in the shower or when I’m riding my bike or driving my car.  I start by figuring out what the punch line of my story is.  Then I think: what are effective figures that communicate this story?  Then I work on the figures and I call this “writing”! Before I even start writing sentences, I have a brainstorming session with myself to identify key words, ideas, and results I want or need to emphasize.  Then I draw the connections between them. By the time I have done all that, I have a solid structure to follow to write the paper without having written a word.”

Jean Philippe Gibert, Assistant Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Amy Schmid

“While I enjoy the whole writing process, one thing I love about writing is the detail-oriented part of it.  I love copy editing!  When a paper has been accepted for publication and I get the page proofs, I have a “proof party”.                                                                First, I let the lab know that the proofs came, and all the co-authors contribute their edits. Then, I print out the paper, sharpen my Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil, go to a cafe, order a special coffee, and I sit down to edit.                                                                  With the proofs, I finally get to see how the article really looks.  It’s a real paper now.  I feel a real sense of accomplishment and am proud of my lab – what a treat!”

Amy K. Schmid, Associate Professor of Biology, Duke University

 

Writer’s Spotlight: Greg Wray

“It is often said that scientists should do a better job communicating to the public so I felt like I should at least try to see if I could walk the walk, not just talk the talk. The challenge is that when you write a scientific paper, you generally know what the rules are, but there are really no formal guidelines about how to write for non-technical audiences.  You could write in a million different ways!  So it’s exciting but also a little bit terrifying.

I’ve written a couple of articles for Natural History magazine and, there, I assumed my readers had probably gone to college (but not necessarily).  What I wanted to do was paint a picture in their minds about something that would interest them – a wonderment, a mystery, or an appreciation of nature’s beauty — and then try to backfill in the more technical side of things, including bringing some molecular biology to the natural history audience.

My first article was about how the diversity of body plans in animals came about. My hook was that the world is full of all kinds of crazy creatures with an incredible range of morphologies, body sizes, physiologies, behaviors, and reproductive systems. I started by describing echinoderms, which have one of the weirdest body plans.  I introduced the larva, which has a very sensible organization; it has a front and a back end, a left and a right side, a belly and a back, a mouth and a gut.  It looks like a normal animal, it’s just tiny. Then, it undergoes this crazy metamorphosis and comes out pentaradial!  So what is going on there?  That’s the sort of wonderment that I was trying to tap into.”

Greg Wray, Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Gustavo Silva

As I transitioned from a postdoc to a faculty member, the biggest challenge in writing was finding the time to do it as my schedule became very fragmented. Early on, I participated in a 12-week Faculty Success Program with National Center For Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), and they challenged us to write 30 minutes every day.                                                                              This practice is not only a way to make consistent progress with our writing, but it is also a way to make sure we are engaging with our science daily. When we put our writing aside for weeks, we forget all the connections.  But if we are writing every day, even for only 30 minutes, we keep those ideas in our mind for the rest of the day as we are doing everything else a scientist does. We see connections, get new ideas, and the practice allows us to stay in conversation with our writing.

We have to show up for our writing, the same way we show up for our teaching. It is critical for our success, and we have to hold ourselves accountable. Even if we are tired, even if we are not inspired, even if we are sad – we have to show up.  Some days we’re going to feel more inspired and we will do more, other days we may not feel that inspired, but we still will have accomplished something.”

 

Gustavo M. Silva, Assistant Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s spotlight: Dave Sherwood

“I used to think I was crazy because I like to listen to really passionate soundtracks and heavy metal when I write. But it was very affirming to read On Writing by Steven King, who reminds us that writing is often painful and, when you get stuck, listening to music can inspire you.                                                            When I am in the early stages of writing and I just want to creatively flow – when it doesn’t matter how it connects together and I just want to get it out – I listen to very passionate stuff like Disturbed and the soundtrack to Inception. I think music like this allows you to get out of your head, to get unstuck, and to think differently. Other times I need background, ethereal music like the soundtrack to the Thin Red Line. And, of course, sometimes I write in silence when the writing requires me to get into a calm place with deep thoughts and to structure those thoughts in an organized manner.

I often tell people that good writing is like a good piece of music where there is a theme that you will hear at the beginning, the middle, and the end. I tell everyone in my lab to listen to Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade and to listen for the theme that threads through the entire piece of music, over and over. Everything has to be connected! For good writing, everything has to have a purpose.”

David R. Sherwood, Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s spotlight: Alison Hill

“The writing I primarily do right now is in the service of teaching, particularly writing assessment questions at high levels of cognitive thinking. I’m always looking for inspiration so I’ll often start by reading something in the research literature. I teach Molecular Biology (Bio201L) and there are a lot of fun molecular mechanisms to get students to think about and there is a lot of logic that goes into thinking about those mechanisms.  The questions I write tend to be based on that logic and being able to put multiple things together to answer a question.

For example, I’ll read about a human disease that is understood at the molecular level – a disease that students haven’t seen before – and make a question out of that.   I’ll give students the background information about the molecular mechanism and then ask:  If this component of this mechanism were to be deleted, then what would be the outcome? That’s how people do experiments in genetics, and our students get really good at thinking this way!”

Alison Hill, Senior Lecturer of Biology, Duke University

Writer spotlight: Masayuki Onishi

“As a non-native English speaker, when I went to graduate school I intentionally made it my goal to write scientific manuscripts in English.  At first, I was translating what I was reading in English into Japanese, then writing in Japanese, then translating that into English. Eventually, I found out it was actually a lot easier to write in English because the language structures are completely different. At some point, I made a conscious choice not to use Japanese at all when I am reading, thinking, or writing about science.  I still love reading all other things in Japanese, like a good novel, but I found it very helpful to limit science to one language.

My advice to other non-native English speakers is to start with small things like listening to science podcasts in English and only reading popular science books written in English. These are easier to understand so, when you are listening or reading, you can practice not translating them.”

Masayuki Onishi, Assistant Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Ke Dong

“The driving force behind science writing is that we want to tell stories.  To map out my story, I often start with writing the abstract part of the paper. You don’t have to limit it to 250 words, but starting with an abstract forces you to really think about what you want to write: why you are doing these experiments, why are they important, why would people want to know this, what approach did you take, what are your main results, and what conclusions will excite people most?  Often, the story is not yet complete when I start writing, but I like to do that because it makes me realize, wait a minute, we need to do some additional experiments!  Because one can package a story in different ways with the same set of data, trying different versions of an extended abstract seems like a good first step in writing a paper as well as guiding the rest of a project to completion.”

Ke Dong, Professor of Biology, Duke University

Writer’s Spotlight: Emily Bernhard

“I do a lot of collaborative writing, but I don’t red-pen my graduate students’ writing anymore. Instead, we sit down together and work through whole sections where one of us reads aloud and the other one edits. It’s awesome because you don’t have to over-interpret what someone’s edits mean, you’re just sitting there, together, talking about how to get the point across as clearly and succinctly as possible. Also, before we submit a revised manuscript, we always, always do a read-aloud as part of our final polish. It is amazing how many messy bits you’ll catch! It really does improve the flow of a manuscript. 

I love it and think it has been a major improvement in working with my students as coauthors because when you’re having a conversation about writing, edits and suggestions seem less like attacks and more like improvements. A lot of editing and reviewing can come across as cruel because you were busy or you weren’t clear, which is problematic because writing is so much a part of people’s self-worth. I find that it’s easier to be kind by having a conversation – it’s a pleasant experience as opposed to a painful one!”

Emily S. Bernhardt, Professor of Biology, Duke University

What is involved in a 10-Day Writing Challenge?

The challenge is simple: write for at least 30 minutes every day (Monday through Friday) for two weeks. At the end of that time, we can evaluate ourselves: How did daily writing affect our productivity? Did participation in a writing community affect our enjoyment of the writing process?

The details:

  • Schedule 2-weeks for the challenge
  • Recruit friends, members of your lab, and co-authors to join you in the challenge
  • Block off time on your calendar for the challenge and protect that time
  • Each day of the challenge, you will get a reminder to log your progress (in a shared Google doc) and celebrate your writing streak

Spring 2023 dates:  Feb 20th – March 3rd.  Members of the Duke Biology Department can sign up for the challenge here.

Writer’s Spotlight: Pelin Volkan

“The hardest part of writing is thinking from the mind of the reader – that is critical.   I’ve gotten better at doing this by getting criticism from people and understanding why my writing wasn’t working. The more feedback I got, the more I learned how other people read, and then I started reading other people’s writing with that same consciousness and attentiveness of audience.  Now, when I am reading someone else’s stuff, I’m trying to figure out why it isn’t working. A big part of becoming a better writer is reading other people’s writing critically.”

Pelin Volkan, Associate Professor of Biology, Duke University

What is the Biology Department Documents Repository?

 

Writing comes from reading,

and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” – Annie Proulx

 

When writing a new type of document, it is often helpful to see a successful example to get a sense of the content, structure, length, and tone. Biology Writes is building a documents repository (modeled after one created and maintained by graduate students prior to 2016) so that we can share and learn from each other. This repository would contain successful prelim documents, grant applications, course proposals and syllabi, job applications, teaching statements, and many other documents that biologist must write.

Guidelines for the repository: Only member of the Duke biology department would have access to the repository. Users must agree not to redistribute these documents and, obviously, must not plagiarize any document. Any use except those specified would be a violation of the Duke University Community Standard. All copyright would be retained by the original creators or funding agencies, and all authors of the document must agree to share their document before it is posted.

We want your input: Do you have any concerns about this plan? Would Sakai be the best place for the archive? Are there additional guidelines we should add?  Please provide input here.   Thanks in advance!

We want your writing! If you have documents that you are willing to share, please email them to Julie.a.reynolds@duke.edu.

Struggling to focus on your writing? Invoking System 2 thinking

In my work as a Writing Coach, I often hear people describe the challenges of focusing on their writing when there are papers to grade, emails to answer, experiments to run, and meals to cook.

I remind them about the value of Thinking, Fast and Slow. Author and Nobel prize recipient Daniel Kahneman proposes that there are two systems that drive the way we think; System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional whereas System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.

In our hyperlinked culture, many of us are stuck in System 1 thinking as we try (with varying success) to react to all the demands on our time. Most scientific writing, in contrast, requires clear-headed, deliberative, System 2 thinking, free from distractions.

How do we tap into System 2 thinking? Many of us need to create meaningful transitions that allow us to shift into a mindset conducive to writing. Some take a walk before opening their laptops, others meditate for a few minutes at their desks. Most of us silence our phones, email, and all other push notifications. This recent article even suggests that, contrary to popular belief, mind-wandering can help us get more done.

If you, too, struggle to focus on your writing, consider deliberately invoking System 2 thinking.

What do you do to get prepared to write? Join the conversation!

 

What is a Writing Coach?

If a one-off writing consultation isn’t enough to get your writing moving as quickly and as smoothly as you would like, you may benefit from working with a writing coach.

Here are some of the skills a writing coach can help you develop:

  • Setting concrete writing goals
  • Creating a realistic writing plan
  • Building a regular writing routine
  • Learning writing techniques
  • Developing your writing skills
  • Soliciting the type of feedback you need at various points in the writing process
  • Improving self-editing skills
  • Increasing writing efficiency
  • Identifying your audience
  • Understanding reader expectations
  • Constructing a compelling argument
  • Framing your literature review
  • Increasing the impact of your writing

Here are some of the types of support a writing coach can offer:

  • Brainstorming the narrative of your writing
  • Helping you stay on schedule and stay organized
  • Recognizing (and overcoming) barriers to writing
  • Offering feedback on your writing

Finally, here are some of the types of feedback a writing coach can offer:

  • Developmental editing (also called structural editing or substantive editing) is done for early drafts and focuses on ensuring that your overall narrative is compelling and well supported and that what you write is coherent, cohesive, and concise.
  • Copy editing and proofreading focus on spelling, punctuation, grammar, and the correct use of the English language, but also can remove redundancies, resolve inconsistencies, and improve the flow of your writing.

Coaching is available 1:1 and in group sessions, both online and in person. To get started, email Julie.a.reynolds at Duke dot edu

What are your New Year’s writing resolutions?


Emily Bernhardt
: I start every semester off with good intentions and good habits that tend to unravel by mid semester. When I am following those good intentions I start my day with a ‘cobweb clearing’ writing sprint followed by two 30 minute pomodoros on whatever writing project is top of the list. Cobweb clearing writing is free association writing and I use it to write about what I need to get done, where I’m angsting and things I am starting to think about. By the end of that I’m usually in a good mindset for focused writing. Using pomodoros is a good way to stay focused and it’s good to end a writing session before you lose steam. An added bonus is that if I get an hour of writing in first thing, the day feels like a success no matter what else does (or doesn’t) get done. Looking forward to a hard reset in the New Year.

Paul Manos:  To keep studying writing styles in my field to see the diversity of approaches used in critical sections of a paper (e.g., paragraphs 1-3 and the last paragraph of the intro, and the first paragraph of the discussion). To get more serious about writing for the broader public because it helps me write in a more active tone using shorter sentences with more flexibility, and what I think is an easier to read style.  To keep writing in concentrated blocks of time, and to always check in on my work first thing in the AM and/or late at night. To remember to go to hard copy drafts as a check on flow and overall construction.  And to keep writing with team-oriented colleagues who believe in each other’s strengths.

David Sherwood:  Mine is reading creative writing 🙂 I always find that helps expand my thinking and writing. Reading a book now…“Bewilderment”.

 

What are your New Year’s writing resolutions?   Join the conversation below!

Do you have any rituals around your writing practice?

A writing ritual is simply a routine that prepares you to think creatively and write productively. Many famous writers practice writing rituals to transition from previous activities, to clear their minds, and to set the intention to write.

 

Natalie Zoe Kerr (postdoc, Morris lab): I try to dedicate 1-2 hours of non-internet time per day to writing tasks alone. If I write one paragraph – great! If I write two pages – also great! The amount written per day doesn’t matter, but consistent allocated time to writing allows me to not push it to the backburner. I also brain dump onto paper, and then pull out ideas and reorganize them into a cohesive story.

Emily Levy (graduate student, Alberts lab): I like to do whatever gives me a clear head, but the actual ‘ritual’ varies depending on where my head’s at. Sometimes I do deep breaths and some stretches. Sometimes it’s chocolate or an extended dog-hug.

Sheila Patek (professor): Pre-pandemic, I had a beloved writing ritual that revolved around the bliss of a regular schedule and that quiet moment when the family is out the door, to school/work/whatever. I would make a perfect cup of premium green tea shipped directly from Kyoto Japan, capture a nugget of morning sunlight coming in through the window, move my chair to sit in that sunbeam, and just be with the writing for at least 30 minutes before the chaos of the workday began. I am looking forward to finding that rhythm again once schools are operating normally – maybe fall 2022?

Julie Reynolds (associate professor of the practice): My favorite writing ritual is to go on a run first thing in the morning to get my blood pumping and clear my mind. Then, with a steamy cup of black coffee, I sit down at my desk, mute my phone, turn email off, and write down specific goals for the writing session before getting started.

Robin Smith (professional science writer and alumni of Rausher Lab): My most productive writing rituals happen when everyone else is asleep. For me that means getting up in the pre-dawn dark, tiptoeing down the hall past my husband and snoring kids, quieting the cat with some extra kibble she’s probably not supposed to be eating, and keeping a keen eye on the tea kettle so I can take it off the burner before the whistling breaks the magic. No emails to answer, no meals to make. For the next hour or so the kitchen table is my happy place. This ritual became even more important during our 16 months of living crammed together at home 24-7 during the pandemic school closures, when quiet time and space for work was so hard to come by. I got better at getting things done no matter what was swirling around me, but let’s just say that if I could hug their teachers now that the kids are back in school, I would.

 

Do you have any writing rituals? Join the conversation below!

What can I expect in a side-by-side writing group?

Participants meet regularly at an agreed upon time and place to work on independent writing projects alongside other writers. Arrive with any materials you will need to work on your own writing and write in good company. Come when you can and stay for as long as your schedule allows.

Times for Fall 2023 writing groups:

  • Mondays 9:30 – noon
  • Every weekday 8–9AM (online)

Here’s a sample schedule so you know what to expect:

  • 9:30-9:35   Check in, goal setting
  • 9:35-11:55   Writing period
  • 11:55-12:00   Optional check-in, and goal-setting for next writing session

A few logistics:

  • Check-ins are optional: if you are on a roll with your writing or not in a space to participate, keep writing!
  • You may join or leave the meeting at any time. If you join the group during a writing period, please wait until the check in to say hello
  • Masking rules will follow Duke policy; participants are also invited to join via Zoom.
  • Some prefer headphones to mute background noises – bring some if that works best for you.
  • Biology Writes will provide coffee, tea, and snacks

Feel free to invite others to join us.  If you want to join the mailing list, email me at Julie.a.reynolds at duke dot edu

What can I expect during a one-on-one writing consultation?

One-on-one consultations are available for all writers in the biology department. Email me (jar88 at duke dot edu) to schedule a time to meet either in person or virtually. During our meeting, we can:

  • Brainstorm ideas for how to move forward with your writing
  • Give feedback from a reader’s perspective, particularly about issues such as tone, clarity, and strength of argument
  • Recommend tools for writing well and strategies for increasing productivity
  • Help you set writing priorities and timelines based on your goals
  • Offer encouragement, a sounding board, and support

Help! How can I get my dissertation done?

Q: I was planning to be finished with my dissertation by now but I’m nowhere near done. My research is mostly complete and my committee is supportive but I’m just not making  progress with the writing. What are some specific strategies that you can suggest?

Emily Ozdowski:   For me, it was ALL about the setting.  If I tried to write at home, the laundry and dishes would constantly nag at me. If I tried to write in the lab, similar “shoulds” pulled away my focus.  I ended up being the most productive with a coffee at a window seat in the local Barnes and Noble, wearing headphones for background music. As long as it was music I knew inside and out, any lyrics didn’t become a distraction.  Apparently, I needed a subtly entertaining atmosphere to convince my lizard brain I was having fun. Then my more conscious efforts could be put into the work of writing.

 

Dan McShea:  Standard procedure is to make a detailed outline, but really it could be just a list of bullet point, in order, for each chapter.  Then just fill in the prose around the bullet points.

Opposite approach, if the standard one no good for you: start writing wherever it’s easiest, wherever you’re most excited by what you have to say. Could be the intro, could be the conclusion, could the middle of chapter 3. Doesn’t matter. Wherever you’re excited to say something. Start on the downslope, as they say in the writing biz.

Sounds easy. It’s not. But as meditation teacher of mine once said, don’t worry about doing it right, don’t worry about doing it well, just (expletive) do it.

 

Justin Wright:  I like to write inside out.  Start with the figures/analyses you know you want to tell your story – write the results section around those specific topics, write the methods that you need to describe the results – write the last paragraph of your introduction “Here we address the following questions (A,B,C) by taking the following approach.   That gives you the structure for your introduction (you basically have to justify why questions A, B, and C are interesting, then add a paragraph or two at the start to provide some general context.  The discussion comes last, but by know you should know what the intriguing things about your results are that you want to spend more time explaining.

 

Sheila Patek:  Like Justin, that’s exactly what I do and train my lab to do.  I’ll even add that after the discussion writing, then the abstract, and the very, very last thing is title.

 

What strategies do you have?   Join the conversation below.

What books do you recommend to improve writing skills?

There are hundreds of books on writing — here are a few of my favorites.

 

Best overview:

  • How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper(8th edition) by Barbara Gastel and Robert A. Day

Best text for student writers:

  • A short guide to writing in biology (9th edition) by Jan Pechenik

Best book on how to write well:

  • Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (12th edition) by Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup

Best books about productivity and the writing process:

  • How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul Silvia
  • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
  • On Writing: a memoir of the craft by Stephen King

What are your favorite books on writing?   Join the conversation below!

What is a writing group and do they really help?  

Amy:   Different kinds of writing groups have different benefits. A moderated online side-by-side writing group, such as the London Writers’ Salon writers’ hours, can help you make time for writing and keep you accountable (suggestion: leave that camera on!). Critique groups are a way to share your writing and give and receive feedback.

Or you can create a group with whatever goals and structure you want. A fiction writing group I’m in focuses on critiquing plots for novels. Another group meets weekly in a park, where we catch up, talk about what we’re reading, then about how our writing is going, and we end with 30 minutes of side-by-side writing. ALL groups can be wonderful for helping you feel like part of a writing community.

Jennifer:  I love my writing group. I’ve been in my current writing group for [13] years, and we’ve survived job changes, a marriage, a divorce, two babies, moves, professional ups and downs, and writing that runs the gamut from grants and academic articles to young adult novels, blog posts about Pluto, and news stories on robotic fish and the mating rituals of pea hens. It works for me.

I’ve been in six other writing groups over the past twenty or so years–some worked, and some didn’t. Looking back, I could have saved myself time (and stress) if I’d just recognized these signs: (read Jennifer’s full blog, 7 Signs It’s Time to Break Up with Your Writing Group)

 

Meet the writers and join the conversation by adding your comments below

Meet the writers

Big thanks to these writers who answer your questions in the “Ask a Writer” column.   This post will be updated as we add more writers to our community

Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, is Director of Outreach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program and directs the Faculty Write Program. Her current project focuses on metacognition and faculty writers.

Monique Dufour, Ph.D. in History, is an assistant professor at Virginia Tech and Director of graduate student professional development.  She runs the “You Can Write It!” program and podcast and often leads writing and teaching workshops for faculty and graduate students at Duke, where she began her career as a Mellon Writing Fellow. She is currently working on a book, Sustainable Teaching: Time Management for Passionate Educators.

Cary Moskovitz, Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, is Director of Writing in the Disciplines in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program, as well as Director of the Text Recycling Research Project and the Duke Reader Project. He is currently working on a paper entitled: Text recycling policies in STEM author-publisher contracts

Julie Reynolds, Ph.D. in biology, is Director of Biology Writes and was one of the first scientists hired to teach academic writing in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program.  She currently teaches writing-intensive courses for undergraduates and is organizes writing groups for faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff.

Amy Sayle, Ph.D. in Epidemiology, was one of the first scientists hired to teach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program. She is currently a science communicator at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center who, in addition to presenting planetarium shows, writes for their science blog. For fun, she writes Young Adult fiction.

 

Can technology help my writing?

Q:   What technology do you recommend to help me improve my writing? 

Monique:   When I am working on a piece of writing over a period of time, every time I open the document, I make a copy and rename it.  By doing this, I am never afraid of overwriting or losing my work.   It also helps me see patterns in my writing process – I can go back to earlier drafts (which I only do if I am stuck).

Cary:   For the prose parts (this doesn’t work for equations!) try having your computer read your draft aloud to you. (For Macs, you can set up a shortcut in Preferences under Speech.) Highlight a paragraph or so and start. Don’t look at the screen; just listen. Find the places where you have difficulty following the train of thought, where things sound clumsy, and so on—and edit those.

Julie:   I’ve used Endote for years but I prefer Zotero for some projects because it makes collaboration across institutions much easier.  Duke libraries has put together this useful table that compares citation tools (also called bibliographic management tools or citation managers).

Meet the Writers

Monique Dufour, Ph.D. in History, is an assistant professor at Virginia Tech and Director of graduate student professional development.  She runs the “You Can Write It!” program and podcast and often leads writing and teaching workshops for faculty and graduate students at Duke, where she began her career as a Mellon Writing Fellow. She is currently working on a book, Sustainable Teaching: Time Management for Passionate Educators.

Cary Moskovitz, Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, is Director of Writing in the Disciplines in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program, as well as Director of the Text Recycling Research Project and the Duke Reader Project. He is currently working on a paper entitled: Text recycling policies in STEM author-publisher contracts

Julie Reynolds, Ph.D. in biology, is Director of Biology Writes and was one of the first scientists hired to teach academic writing in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program.  She currently teaches writing-intensive courses for undergraduates and is organizes writing groups for faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff.   Interested in joining a writing group?   Email Julie.a.reynolds@duke.edu

Join the conversation: What technology helps your writing? Leave a comment below!

Why is finishing so hard?

Q:  Why is it so hard to FINISH a paper? I find that final step of polishing all the paragraphs incredibly difficult.

 

Monique: The things that most interest you in the project, as a biologist, are probably not at play at the end of writing a paper. It is likely that what interests you is asking the research questions, designing the study, analyzing the data – those are the exciting parts of doing biology. What is left at the end of the writing process is probably not tapping into the biologist in you – it is tapping into the writer in you. Some people find those writing issues interesting, but they are not biology. By that point in the process, you may feel done with the idea and have probably moved on to new ideas that are competing for your attention. That’s probably why it feels so hard.

Amy: It is so hard to banish those perfectionist tendencies!   It helps me to step away from my writing and come back to it with fresh eyes – I often realize it is better than I thought.

Jennifer: Finishing a paper can be a challenge for me because I don’t enjoy the editing stage of writing. What I find most helpful for the final push is the Pomodoro method.  First, I make a list of the remaining tasks I need to complete (ex: “review footnotes on page 3”; “add reviewer 2’s suggestion for a reference to X source”; “revise conclusion for clarity and conciseness”). Then I choose 1 task from the list, set a timer (for me, it’s 25 minutes), and work on that one task during the allotted time. This strategy helps me stay focused on each individual task remaining to get the project submitted, stay motivated because the final edits are in short bursts, and allows me to make progress step by step.

 

 

Meet the Writers

Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, is Director of Outreach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program and directs the Faculty Write Program. Her current project focuses on metacognition and faculty writers.

Monique Dufour, Ph.D. in History, is an assistant professor at Virginia Tech and Director of graduate student professional development.  She runs the “You Can Write It!” program and podcast and often leads writing and teaching workshops for faculty and graduate students at Duke, where she began her career as a Mellon Writing Fellow. She is currently working on a book, Sustainable Teaching: Time Management for Passionate Educators.

Amy Sayle, Ph.D. in Epidemiology, was one of the first scientists hired to teach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program. She is currently a science communicator at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center who, in addition to presenting planetarium shows, writes for their science blog. For fun, she writes Young Adult fiction.

Join the conversation: What helps you finish up your writing projects? Leave a comment below!

 

How do you make time for your writing?

Q:  So many things in my life have deadlines – grades are due, committee meetings are scheduled, conferences are planned.   How do you make time for writing when there are so many other things competing for your attention?

Amy:  I have discovered that it works best for me if I put the writing first in the day, especially if it doesn’t have a deadline attached.  I have it on my schedule, with a specific start time and an end time.   Accountability also helps – I always let someone else know what I am planning to do and then I check in with them at the end of my scheduled writing time to let them know how it went.

 Jennifer:  Since writing is a required part of my job, but less visible than committee work or teaching, I plan my semester with writing in mind rather than trying to fit it in after everything else gets done. What I find helpful is scheduling writing into my weekly schedule and protecting that time the same way I would other meetings and class time.

For example, I’m in a weekly “write-on-site” group, and so I have a two hour block each Friday just for writing alongside others who are doing the same. I’ve also found that I’m better at protecting writing time if it’s at the beginning of the day, before I’ve checked email, and when I have the most creative energy. With that in mind, I schedule a short writing session (25-30 minutes) at least three mornings a week during the semester.

In addition, each Sunday night I review the week ahead and make adjustments to my writing schedule as needed so I can keep my writing goals realistic. If it’s a busy teaching week (midterm grading or student meetings), I might write only on Friday. If I have a pressing writing deadline (a co-author needs my feedback), I might block more writing time and see what else can be pushed to another week.

Meet the Writers

Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, is Director of Outreach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program and directs the Faculty Write Program. Her current project focuses on metacognition and faculty writers.

Amy Sayle, Ph.D. in Epidemiology, was one of the first scientists hired to teach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program. She is currently a science communicator at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center who, in addition to presenting planetarium shows, writes for their science blog. For fun, she writes Young Adult fiction.

 

 

Want more tips?

This recent article  in the Chronicle of Higher Ed  (this link gets you access through the Duke Library) shows how one writer makes decisions about writing time (what / when/ how much) in the midst of everything else. TLDR:

Here are two systems to manage multiple writing projects – which one best suits you?   Consider trying each of them for a week, keeping track of what you got done and how you felt doing it.

Option No. 1: The Daily Juggle. This one can be daunting but the ability to switch between projects on a single day — even in the same work session — is a skill you can develop with practice and (just a little bit of) discipline. Here’s how I’d recommend you schedule your first week, devoting three hours a day to your writing and research:

    • Monday. Grant application: 45 minutes. Monograph: 75 minutes. Talk No. 1: 60 minutes.
    • Tuesday. Edited volume: 45 minutes. Monograph: 75 minutes. Talk No. 1: 60 minutes.
    • Wednesday. Grant application: 45 minutes. Monograph: 75 minutes. Talk No. 2: 60 minutes.
    • Thursday. Edited volume: 45 minutes. Monograph: 75 minutes. Talk No. 2: 60 minutes.
    • Friday. Monograph: the full three hours.

Option No. 2: Dedicated Days. In this approach, you spend each weekday doing a specific thing — mostly — but you don’t spend long enough away from any one thing to forget what you were doing with it before. A Dedicated Days schedule might look like this:

    • Monday. Grant application: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Final half hour: Review the last work you did on the monograph to refamiliarize yourself with it in preparation for the next day; maybe add a few sentences.
    • Tuesday. Monograph: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Final half hour: Refamiliarize yourself with the edited volume to prep for tomorrow.
    • Wednesday. Edited volume: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Final half hour: Refamiliarize yourself with Talk No. 1.
    • Thursday. Talk No. 1: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Final half hour: Refamiliarize yourself with Talk No. 2.
    • Friday. Talk 2: all three hours.

Join the conversation: How do you prioritize your writing? Leave a comment below!

What can I do to make my writing better?

Q:  I am a good scientist, but I don’t really think I am a good writer.   What’s the easiest thing I can do to make my writing better?  

Jennifer: I have three main strategies. First, I read a lot of articles in the journals where I want to publish to familiarize myself with the style. I also read writing that inspires me or makes me think. I once collaborated with a scientist writing an NSF grant who loved to read The New Yorker for inspiration!

Second, I write a lot, but I don’t expect everything to be published. Sometimes I need to write a lot to figure out what I have to say and to have material to work with. I used to think it was terribly inefficient to write 5 pages to get maybe 3 paragraphs in the end, but I had to write those 5 to get those 3 to advance the project. I’ve found Paul Silva’s book How to Write a Lot particularly useful for this strategy.

Last, I share my writing while I’m working on it. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what’s good in all that writing. I’ve found participating in a monthly writing group and giving each other feedback on our works-in-progress an invaluable way to improve my writing. My group helps me see what’s working, what’s not, and to make a plan for next steps. I also learn from reading their writing and hearing about their writing process.

Cary: Think carefully about who you are really writing for; then write in a way that makes the most sense for them: Do your readers really need that extensive lit review? Are you choosing the words that communicate most clearly to them? Have you carefully designed your visuals (figures and tables) with your readers in mind?

Amy: Do more of it! You get better with practice. Also, find a model that is roughly similar to what you are trying to write and analyze it to figure out what makes it good. Study the structure and the writing techniques. Get critique partners and have a supportive writing community.

 

Meet the Writers

Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, is Director of Outreach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program and directs the Faculty Write Program. Her current project focuses on metacognition and faculty writers.

Cary Moskovitz, Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, is Director of Writing in the Disciplines in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program, as well as Director of the Text Recycling Research Project and the Duke Reader Project. He is currently working on a paper entitled: Text recycling policies in STEM author-publisher contracts

Amy Sayle, Ph.D. in Epidemiology, was one of the first scientists hired to teach in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program. She is currently a science communicator at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center who, in addition to presenting planetarium shows, writes for their science blog. For fun, she writes Young Adult fiction.

 

Join the conversation: What are some things that you do to make your writing better? Leave a comment below!

Ask A Writer!

Got questions?  We have answers! “Ask a writer” is a periodic column in which I will pose your questions to successful authors (in our department and beyond) and publish their responses.  Ask your questions in the comments section below or by emailing Julie.A.Reynolds@duke.edu and check back here to read what the experts have to say!