The Writer's Creed

A writer does the following:

Schedules daily writing time on workdays; takes a relaxed approach on weekends.
Shows up and writes during the scheduled writing time.
Stands up and walks around every 25 minutes for no more than 5 minutes (i.e., uses the Pomodoro technique).
Limits generative writing to 3-5 hours daily; spends the rest of the day on supportive tasks and other duties.
Overcomes writer's block by rewriting the last paragraph or reverse outlining a section.
Keeps near a list of tricks for overcoming writer's block.
Manages their energy by doing generative writing first, rewriting second, and supportive tasks later in the day.
Jumps into generative writing; does not wait to be inspired.
Does generative writing when half-awake early in the day and editing and rewriting when fully alert, generally mid to late morning.
Masters their writing tools without letting the tools master them.
Writes without distractions (no YouTube videos, TV, radio, etc.; playing classical music is okay sometimes).
Tracks the time spent and words written by project ID.
Takes credit for time spent reading material related to the project, especially if finished by making an entry in an annotated bibliography.
Uses a separate writing log for each writing project.
Makes writing social when it is mutually beneficial.
Reads and writes about writing at least once a fortnight.
Keeps up on weasel words, wordy phrases, cliché, and other junk English; reviews this list quarterly to avoid their use.
A scientist writes with precision, clarity, and conciseness. The order is in descending importance. Has memorized this list.
Uses computerized writing tools responsibly, not blindly: Takes full responsibility for the final draft.
Documents in writing log any use of AI to generate or paraphrase passages.
Uses dictation software for some generative writing.
Uses software tools like Grammarly, the LanguageTool, and the Hemingway.app to stimulate improvements in their writing.
Knows enough about good writing to accept only useful suggestions.
Does not blindly accept noun clusters, English contractions, and weasel words suggested by AI software.
Uses copilot when exhausted to complete sentences.
Uses the paraphrasing tool of some chatbots (e.g., TexGPT) cautiously and only to generate intermediate drafts.
Reads this list periodically.

Premises

Writing is any activity that advances a writing project. Most of the time spent on these writing activities does not involve generative writing.
Generative writing is the most valuable activity: All other activities descend from it.
Generative writing and editing use different parts of the brain, so they should be done at separate times.
Generative writing is best done when half awake because your internal editor is not fully on so new ideas are more likely to evade your internal editor and make it onto the page.
Generative writing can be done well by dictation while commuting if the writing triggers are planned before the commute. Writing triggers are topics to be expanded upon in a paper. The triggers are meant to initiate and guide the dictation but not constrain it. News ideas often emerge during the dictation. Triggers can also be used when not commuting. Take care if commuting by driving a car: This can be a form of distracted driving. Cell phones are not designed for this task: Use an 80-dollar digital voice recorder instead.
Editing is best done when fully awake because your internal editor will be activated. (Be careful; late-night editing can keep you awake later than intended and interfere with your sleep pattern with a productivity hit to be paid the following day.)
Most of the time spent on actual writing involves rewriting.
Planning is an important (underemphasized) component of writing.
Writing includes any activity that advances a writing project.
The word count does not capture most writing-related activities. Hence, the time spent on these activities must be tracked to document these efforts.
Time tracking is an essential component of time management. It is hard to manage what you do not measure. Writing involves a lot of time management!!
Per day, 90 minutes of generative writing on one project is the optimal time due to our ultradian cycles. Longer stretches of writing on one project are known as binge writing, which always leads to diminishing returns.
Writing includes reading the papers that you cite and those that you do not wind up citing. This reading activity can rejuvenate your momentum and inspire new ideas. It is best done in the evening so your subconscious can work overnight with the new insights. Writing involves feeding your subconscious: Feed our head!. Reading is grossly underemphasized in books about writing. Time should be scheduled for it else it is less likely to be done.
Writing includes mundane tasks like managing bibliographic libraries and making figures; these are suitable afternoon activities.
Writing includes data analysis.

Update history

Version	Changes	Date
Version 0.2	Added badges and update table. Made minor edits of the README.md file.	2024 May 7
Version 0.3	Added more tips about the use of writing tools.	2024 June 22
Version 0.4	More additions and edits.	2024 October 16

Funding

NIH: R01 CA242845, R01 AI088011
NIH: P30 CA225520 (PI: R. Mannel); P20GM103640 and P30GM145423 (PI: A. West)

MooersLab/thewriterslaw

The Writer's Creed

A writer does the following:

Premises

Related links

Update history

Funding