Book notes:  “Write No Matter What” by Joli Jensen (2017).

During my thesis writing I read 3 books on the topic of information management and writing in academic environments. Reading them kept me motivated during bad days and gave me tools to implement in my routine and improve my writing. Since I tend to procrastinate, reading is always a side task I do during commute to work, but not a “preparation stage” to then start writing. I am sure if I postponed my writing until I felt prepared, I would find tons of texts to delay the start of the project. However, I would encourage anyone having issues with writing long texts, to read these resources while facing the writing process. I am sure you will find the motivation you need on moments of self-doubt and will give you the push you need to keep writing.

The other two books I read were:

• How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silva
• Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

Leave the Dream

Academic life isn’t always conducive to writing. Our schedules are packed with experiments, lectures, travel, meetings, and admin tasks. Writing gets pushed aside, even though it’s essential.

I used to romanticize academia—imagining long conversations with mentors, writing in scenic cafés. But the reality is more about prepping PowerPoint slides than walking through ivy-covered paths. And yet, academia remains an incredible space to grow, learn, and collaborate on ideas we care deeply about.

Write to Express, Not to Impress

One of the biggest writing hurdles is self-doubt—the fear of not being good enough, especially when starting something new.

Joli Jensen suggests a shift in mindset: treat writing as a craft, not a performance. Don’t try to impress—just try to communicate clearly and consistently. You’re not aiming for perfection; you’re learning through practice.

It is important to accept the mindset of a craftsman or an artist, slowly adding layers of into a piece of writing that will take the shape of a final product only by adding the work every day. I personally think of this process as if I was a painter, first thinking about overall project, sketching the structure that will come up in the image by adding the elements needed to communicate the idea, sketching those ideas progressively in the canvas, and only after the composition is ready, start working on the details of every element of the project, adding colour, texture, light and shadow. I even think about the final reading of an essay as sealing the artwork to add the final shine of the painting and protecting it from time. In our case of course it is more about checking we didn’t leave alone a typographic error, or an incomplete sentence cut in half during edition.

The Project Box: Organizing Your Writing Project

One of Jensen’s actionable tools is the Project Box—a structured system to track and nurture your writing projects. I’ve adapted her method with digital folders, and it’s changed how I approach my work.

What Goes Inside a Project Box?

• Project Overview

A visual or written outline of the entire project including structure, goals, and its current status. Here I usually do a sketch or mind map in my journal and take a picture to have it available in my project folder. Sometimes, for long projects I prefer a power point presentation to myself adding idea bullet points and the deadlines for every part of the project. I also prefer a power point presentation because every section of this list can be added in a visually pleasing manner.

• Section Notes & Idea Outlines

Bullet points or short paragraphs for each section. This helps with consistency and flow.

• Research Questions

Original questions and any that emerge during discussions or drafts. This is a great collection place to add questions you receive during seminars, group meetings or ideas you get from your lab mates. I like to keep this inventory at hand since it streamlines the discussions within a group.

• Next Steps

A running list of tasks keeps writer’s block at bay. There is nothing better to invest one or two minutes at the end of every work session to write at least one clear, actionable direction for the next time we open the project. People call this “Hemingway bridge” because Ernest really liked to leave notes for himself when he was still feeling inspired in a writing’s session. In that way, he would be excited the next day and would have a clear instruction on where to start: no doubts, no hesitation.

• References & Inspirations

Include formal citations and insights from meetings, conferences, or casual conversations. I usually have 3 to 4 papers related to my project that I really like in my folder. I add them not just as references, but rather as a source of inspiration when I am not sure how to advance my story line or even how to design a certain figure.

Types of inspiration I like to have:

• In my thesis I had one nice review on synovial membrane biology to properly set my conceptual framework and narrative flow.
• Another paper was rather an inspiration for figures, in this case I use it because their overview of the analyses they made really matched the way I wanted to present my data. Something funny is that both works are related to single cell RNA sequencing, but not about the same disease or even the same species. Anyways, it is amazing when you find a paper in your way that you admire since it can always be a good resource.
• Finally, I always have a paper with top-notch method description. This is not common in science but once you find one, keep it and use it as a template for writing your own. I usually select a paper from which I selected at least one technique because every single step was clearly described, and I could implemented in a reasonable amount of time. Wouldn’t it be cool that our project is at least useful in this way?
• Submission Plans

Target journals, conferences, or calls for papers—especially useful in collaborations. It is also nice to listen to your supervisor(s) regarding the potential places you could send it to. Of course, this only happens if you have an actual mentor supervisor, otherwise use your reference list and your inspiration papers to look for potential journals!

• Venting File

A safe space for frustrations, feedback, emotional blocks, or quick reflections. When you are having one of those shit days, take a bit of distance of your project and write in this file (that should be inside your project folder) what you are feeling about the project. This is an amazing tool to exteriorize the more subjective aspects of your work, feelings you have after presentations to colleagues are usually the ones that give me writer’s block. Usually what happens is that I get suggestions to do immense changes which leave me paralyzed and stressed. After one or two days, I can take good notes about those suggestions with a cooler mind and take the positive, constructive aspects of most comments. Honestly, I have added some good feedback for supplementary figures in my thesis and now my manuscript from these notes.

Dr. Jensen treats this file as a periodic “self-check” for every project and I can only recommend it.

• Summary Document

A brief 1-page version to share with collaborators. Great for keeping everyone on the same page. I will do a small example of this in another post at some point.

Write Every Day (Even 15 Minutes Count)

Consistency is more powerful than intensity. A short, low-stress daily writing session helps maintain momentum and keeps projects alive—even on busy days.

Track how you spend your time honestly (without judgment). Understand your rhythms. Writing in your best creative hours will make a massive difference.

Keeping the wheel spinning is truly beneficial for writing, it keeps the advances fresh and gives you the opportunity to make great advances on the days that you have more time available to work.

Stop Waiting for a Magnum Opus

Let go of the myth that your writing must be world-changing. You’re adding to an ongoing scholarly conversation. That’s enough.

You don’t need to be perfect—just useful, thoughtful, and professional. Write for clarity and service, not to impress an imaginary Nobel prize reviewer that you try to impress.

Embrace the Writing Process

Every writing project has stages. Don’t expect brilliance from the start. Here are the four phases I use:

Think Fast:

1. Idea Collection & story structure
2. Shitty First Draft

Think Slow:

3. Revision
4. Editing

Just begin. Let the perfectionist come later.

Don’t wait for the perfect sentence or the perfect mood. Just start writing. The perfectionist has a role, but it belongs later—during revision and edition, not at the beginning. Embracing the different phases of writing is crucial. Once you have a general sense of your manuscript’s structure—which typically only emerges after your figures and data are in place—moving into drafting mode is the key step that gets the project rolling.

Allowing yourself to write a “shitty first draft” isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a strategic one. That rough first version is what helps break through the resistance that builds up around the whole writing process. It’s important to understand that executive and analytical mindsets are fundamentally different and difficult to switch between them. As the Nobel Awardee Daniel Kahneman explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow, these two modes of thinking are wired for different purposes. Trying to engage them simultaneously is inefficient, frustrating, and often paralyzing.

So, write fast and without judgment at first. That’s how you create the raw material your inner perfectionist can later refine. Your job in the early phase is not to polish but to produce. Let the perfectionist have their moment later—during editing, not creation.

Keeping those two mindsets separate has worked like magic for me.

Think of it like running an experiment you carefully planned, only to have your supervisor barge in mid-process suggesting last-minute changes. How does that feel? Probably chaotic, and rarely does it improve your results. Writing is the same. When your executive writer is abruptly interrupted by your all-knowing, sharp-tongued internal editor, it can tank your momentum and kill your motivation.

I’ve found myself saying terrible things to myself during those moments—when the editor shows up too early and criticizes the work that hasn’t even had the chance to take shape. It’s demoralizing. Sometimes it even stops me entirely.

So, give each of those voices in your head their rightful place and time. Let the writer write. Let the editor revise and edit. But don’t let them both into the room at once. That’s the real secret to moving forward.

Know When to Let Go

Toxic Projects

Some projects drain your time and energy without return. If your collaborators disappear or the data contradicts your hypothesis, it’s okay to step away. Letting go is better than carrying dead weight. I hate letting data unpublished, so you could also think about a “negative data” publication if really there is nothing else to do. Try to do something productive with all that work but don’t let it hunt you for months or years as a project that cannot move forward.

Backburner Projects

Not everything is urgent. Keep some projects on the “backburner.” Add notes or references occasionally, and return when ready. These can be great sources of motivation when your main project hits a rough patch.

However, try to organise those projects in the same way. In that manner, if you have a nice idea about that paper, you can easily add it to your story line or reference list. After urgent and important projects are finished, you will find a useful collection of ideas and a template structure to start with a new manuscript.

Rest Isn’t Optional

Burnout doesn’t help anyone. I used to feel guilty about resting. Now, I schedule it—every evening, every weekend, and every holiday. No work allowed after 10 p.m. (I’m aiming for 8 p.m. eventually). It sounds weird at the beginning but if you have symptoms of “revenge productivity”, it will do wonders. This conduct is trying to work mentally in tasks you did not conclude during the day and leads to intrusive thoughts in the evening which can trigger anxiety and restless nights. If you have one of those nights, take a note in your mobile or notebook about that “great idea” you had and promise yourself you will follow it in the next day during the planning phase of your schedule. For me, it rarely brings something new that is worth following, it is rather a rumination of ideas I already had. Giving your mind spaces and times to work and rest will better allow you to do both tasks productively and happily.

Writing during holidays

During holidays, I write for fun—no deadlines, no pressure. I also plan social activities in my calendar to protect that time. It’s helped me rest better and return to work with more energy. However, writing in the setting of a holiday sometimes bring very good ideas about new projects or solutions to complex problems. Nevertheless, try to keep that urge to work at bay and limit it to a short 15-minute moment every day to have a bit more of that brainstorm mindset that usually comes with rest.

Build Your Writing Community

You don’t have to do this alone. Form or join a writing group focused on supporting the process, not critiquing content.

How to Build Support:

• Meet weekly or biweekly with 2–6 peers either in person or digitally
• Share the process of writing with people doing the same process as you are going through.
• Set and share tangible goals (pages, minutes, project stages)
• Use a shared notebook or digital chat for accountability
• Stay confidential, respectful, and peer-focused
• Talk to editors and allies at conferences
• Share notes on important tools you discover
• Reach out to mentors and idols—even if they’re not nearby

You don’t need to work on the same project at all, but having people with the goal of writing around you will do wonders for your motivation.

Final Thoughts

Writing is not a monument—it’s a moment. We contribute to a small part of the ongoing academic conversation. It’s not about changing the world, it’s about showing up and sharing our data. Truly transcendental discoveries will usually lead to follow-ups, not a single paper.

Here’s what I remind myself when feeling down:

• I only need to write every day, even a little, even if it is not good.
• I am writing to communicate what I did, my goal is not to impress.
• If something is bugging me, it’s time to release my frustration in my venting file.
• Keep yourself motivated reading papers, books or watching videos on writing, grab tools that serve you and move on.
• Let your ideas evolve through reuse and repetition

Your words matter. Keep writing—no matter what.