It took me a long time to write my first conference paper. I was meaning to write it for a long time and couldn’t somehow just do it. Now that I have done it, I thought might as well reflect on it.
Like I said, it was my first attempt and I drew a lesson from each attempt I made and every mistake I committed. In my writing process, the first tip I have for myself and all others is to not focus on writing right but rather focus on writing in itself. Never also underestimate the amount of time you would need to complete a certain task at hand. I ended up spending a lot of time on data transcription and so found hardly any time to do the other component of the document.
Planning is very important for writing a paper and I would say, all the more better is to write your plan so that you no longer have to stare at a blank page and get jitters before starting to write. A big help that the plan would do is to make you feel that all that is needed to be done is to fill the gaps in between the plan. Not that the task becomes simpler but when you think it is simpler, there is a psychological push to go ahead with it and the hurdles are overcome with a greater zest. The boost and confidence keeps your spirits high. A very useful advice is , don’t be critical in the beginning only, first just get written. Leave the correction work for later. Some for yourself and the rest for your supervisor and peer. They should also have some constructive contribution in your document.
Sometimes most of our energy gets consumed in writing and we have no interest and inclination left in reading the paper again. Then it so happens that we give the document to the reviewer with some very silly mistakes because of which there is a lot of embarrassment to face at a later stage. So do read what you have written.
Make sure that in this entire process, you do not forget your deadline and then in the end, do not forget the most important rule of the game. Yeah, this is IMPERATIVE. After submission, go and enjoy life and do not moan over the quality or standard of the submitted document. After all it is the fruit of your hard work and dedication so it is your baby and you got to be proud of it.
