Ph.D. students: Writing well is a powerful asset in academia and is often akin to good storytelling or making a compelling case in court. It can open doors for funding, jobs, scholarships, promotions, or getting papers published in top venues. A thread: @AcademicChatter @PhDVoice

(1/n): Your ability to succeed goes up if you can clearly articulate ideas and make coherent, logical leaps in your papers. Know who your audience is and that can help in tailoring your writing.

2/n Writing well is a continuous and sometimes unique learning process for individuals (based on your field/adviser). What may work for others may not work for you. However, you can pick up good habits that can serve you well as you climb the Ph.D. ladder.

3/n Part 1: Ask your PI and labmates to share 1-2 papers (outside your lab) that are, in their opinion, written very well. Collect those papers and give them a read. Focus on the writing, along with the main findings of the article.

3/n Part 2: As you do your own literature review, tag papers that you think are very well written. You will slowly but surely pick up hints about what makes a good paper Your PI is often a great asset to introduce you to the nuances of writing in your field/sub-field.

4/n Attend writing workshops or take courses if you have the opportunity to do so. It's never late to learn, and making a conscious effort to improve your writing will pay off in the long term. Often, universities have writing centers and can give excellent feedback.

5/n If possible, share your writing with friends not in your field, to comment on your writing. While they may not understand all the technical points, they can pick a host of other things: excessive passive voice use, word repetition, spelling, or repetitive grammatical errors.

6/n Often, good writing involves being concise, easy to read, and free of fancy/unnecessary jargon. Sometimes you can pick up important cues and lessons from across different fields. Read this article about some tips from the late justice RBG!: https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/ruth-bader-ginsburg-taught-a-law-clerk-secret-to-strong-writing.html

7/n There are many tools out there (like Grammarly, etc.) that can help weed out basic grammatical errors or spelling issues. Using these can help save a ton of time while writing. Ask around your labmates or PI if they can recommend something that they use to improve writing.

8/n Your technical writing can suffer due to a lack of clarity in the outline or structure. Therefore, spend some time thinking about what each paragraph should focus on and what point you are trying to make. Systematically laying out your case can help a lot!

9/n If properly executed, saying "first, or second, or third" at the start of consecutive paragraphs can be a powerful way to make structured points. Alternatively, you can start your paragraph with a topical sentence, i.e., a sentence that makes the central point for that para.

10/n When you write a paper, you can put a statement in red (a leading question or just a comment) above each para that explains its purpose. Doing so can help you and other co-authors keep track of the flow of the paper. You can then remove these just before submission.

11/n Remember that writing and editing are two different things. They are interlinked but need different perspectives. Get help trying to review what you have written or take a break (a few days to a week if you can afford it) and look at it again.

12/n "Reading it out loud" by yourself or having a software (Word for example) do it for you can sometimes really help. You can catch "flow errors," i.e., things that disrupt the flow of the story this way. You will be surprised by the things you miss.

13/n Pay attention to the writing style of journalists and writers. While they cater to a much broader audience, some have a very magnetic quality to their writing. Their writing is often sharp, crisp, and concise to fit the publishers' layout size and time restrictions.

Lastly, know that improving your writing is a journey that's unique to you. Be open to learning from many places. No one is perfect! There are many books, blogs, and videos out there that might be useful (or not!). If something helped & you have tips/comments, please share here