First, orient yourself. Think about your writing project from both your perspective and from the reader’s perspective. I like to begin by asking myself this series of questions:

• Who is my intended audience?
• What is my writing purpose?
• What is the knowledge gap I am trying to fill?
• What is my research question, hypothesis, or thesis?
• What is new to my field in this manuscript?
• What are the key points?
• How will this new knowledge change my field?
• What does my audience need and expect from me?

Once I answer those questions, I have a much better idea of what I’m up against, and I have a feeling that I know how to get going on the task. It gives me some milestones that need to be in my paper. And it can be a sort of checklist I can use as I’m editing, to make sure I have accomplished those objectives.

If you want to break it down into more detail, start thinking about two things: when is my deadline, and what are the steps I need to complete to finish the project? You can make a list of the steps, in as much detail as you would like, then divide the time between now and the deadline into segments in which each task must be completed. This will give you a series of mini-deadlines that you must hit to finish the project by your final deadline. I like to use and Excel file or Google Sheets for this planning.

Are you writing a manuscript for publication (or a thesis/dissertation chapter in article style)? Have a system in place makes it so much easier and lowers the stress that comes along with a major writing task. My course “Write Your Scientific Journal Article” provides an overall writing plan and step-by-step instructions to take you from blank page to completed manuscript. Check the Scientific Writing School tab to see if there is a current discount code.

Check out this related post: Authorship for equipment use? Or, click on posts and choose another one!

Do you have another method for planning out your writing goals? Do you have a question? Leave a comment below!