How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing

Read the funding agency’s submission guidelines and instructions—every last word, no matter how boring.

Generating text and revising text are distinct parts of writing—don’t do both at once.

It doesn’t matter if your proposal is good, or even great, in its own right—it must be better than most of the other proposals, and nearly all of them are pretty good.

Writing is a skill, not a gift.

THREE FLAVORS OF WRITING GROUPS Goals and Accountability Groups

Writing is more than typing words. For me, writing’s endpoint is sending an article to a journal, a book to a publisher, or a grant proposal to a funding agency. Any activity that gets me closer to that goal counts as writing.

And still others track time goals, such as writing for a certain number of minutes.

the funding agency holds a workshop or webinar you can attend, attend it. If they have posted videos on their submission and review process, watch them.

Whatever is closest to publication: The project that is nearest the door—comments for a collaborator, a revision to resubmit, or a half-done manuscript—gets done first.