You are sitting quietly in your room, staring at your computer. You have this idea about a certain topic that you would like to share with the world, but you don’t know how, or where to start. You keep getting easily distracted by your phone notifications and time just keeps passing…
It is very common to find it hard to transfer your ideas to paper. Where to begin? What is the best way to organize the text?. I have hesitated countless times before a blank piece of paper (even when writing this very blog post!). It is often uncomfortable, but don’t worry, there are ways to overcome it! While the best method can vary from one person to another, here are some general guidelines you can use to build your own approach and start writing. Although these are general guidelines, I have found them quite useful when writing any kind of text: ranging from blog posts to scientific papers.
First of all, you need to think about your story. That’s right, one does not simply overcome writer’s block by sitting down and writing away. You need to first come up with a plan. Rest assured: your voice IS important, but you need to first answer these questions to maximize your motivation and your writing’s potential impact:
- Your message: Think about the central idea of your piece. What context does the reader need to know to understand it? If you are trying to convince the reader of something, what are the main things they should think about? What should the reader remember when they finish reading the piece?
- Your audience: Consider the tone and the language you should use for your target audience: are they highly specialized readers?
- The importance of your message: Why does this particular audience need to hear your message? Can they enact change? Would you like to include a call to action?
- The platform where you would like to publish it: Different venues will be read by specific audiences, so select the one that best matches your target. Make sure to check the formatting of the pieces they publish and the process of working with them. For example: does the publisher you envision your piece in require a pitch and an outline, or do you directly send them the finalized piece? Finding this out before you start writing can save you quite some time and effort. Similarly, the editor will appreciate that you follow their established workflow.
Keep notes of your answers, as they will be very helpful for the next stages.
The next step is to draft the general organization of your piece. Prepare an outline using bullet points. Your main objective here is to develop an overview of what your article’s paragraphs will talk about by identifying the main points you want to present. Usually, each one of the main ideas in your bullet points should become a paragraph once you add some supporting details. This is a good time for you to see which ideas work best together and think carefully about the order in which you tell your story. For example, your first paragraph should be clear about the main message of your piece. Think of it as the hook of your text: you might lose your reader if it doesn’t resonate with them. Next, you need to hold your reader’s hand a little: guide them from a very general view toward the more specific details of your message. As you prepare these introductory paragraphs, you will realize that some ideas need to be understood before you can present others. This will set up the stage for you to make your central argument and convince your reader. Finally, you can add a concluding paragraph, which can be a recap of the main takeaways, a call to action, an invitation for discussion, etc. As you start adding supporting details, you might realize that they would go better with any of the other main items. You might even decide to completely restructure entire sections!
By now, you should have a concrete plan, so you are ready to start writing! A first draft does not need to be perfect, it merely needs to develop the ideas you mentioned in your outline. There is no pressure, just keep going. Eventually, you will get back to your piece to polish all of its rougher edges. Spoiler alert: you will come back, and you will likely notice that your first draft is better than you thought! Of course, your draft will need some tweaks here and there, but it will be very good progress. Essentially, you want to get rid of the feeling of being stuck. Once your first draft is ready, you will feel more motivated to come back and finish it.
The next stage is to reread and improve your piece, likely multiple times. By now, you have a story that flows nicely, and you are just trying to phrase everything in the clearest way possible. Even so, this is the stage that will require the most amount of work. Here, it is often a good idea to ask your peers, family, friends, or editor what they think about your piece. They can tell you which parts are less clear, and will often have good advice on what more to include to strengthen your article. Sooner or later, you will be satisfied and it will be time to publish your post!
Writing does not need to feel like a burden. It is actually quite fun, but often the main obstacle is getting started. For me, what works best is doing some preliminary planning in an outline and convincing myself that there is no pressure at the early stages. Just getting the ball rolling does wonders for motivation, since you quickly get attached to your newly born piece!
Now it is your turn! If you are still reading this, chances are that you are an Early Career Researcher who would like to share something with our community. We publish pieces on all kinds of topics related to life as an ECR, from research culture to career development. We encourage authors to follow the guidelines from this post: starting with a pitch to frame the story, then an outline, and then a draft, with the guidance of one of our editors every step of the way. We would be delighted to receive your pitches and work with you on new blog posts!
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash
