I feel anxious when writing my first paper

[Haorong Wu]

Hi, there. I am starting writing my first paper now. But I do not feel very well.

First, my brain is almost empty when I start to write the introduction section. I feel I have many things to say but they disappear when I really start to type. I am afraid the structure of this section will not be well-organized, nor the content will draw the eyes of readers. I try to mimic others' paper while avoiding being plagiarizing. I type some sentences, and then delete them, because I always find them not good enough.

Second, English is not my first language. Although my TOEFL score is not bad, I constantly feel my writing style will not like those written by a student whose first language is English, so that readers may feel confused after reading my paper.

Also, I am afraid that what if my theory has some error although I have checked it for many times. If that happens, I am terrified that I will contribute nothing to the community and my career would be destroyed.

Well, I feel more anxious now.

 

[Drakkith]

I type some sentences, and then delete them, because I always find them not good enough.

Stop deleting them. No matter how bad they are, leave them in until you're done with your first draft. Then you can go back, get a grasp on what you've written and how it sounds, and change it if necessary. The key to good writing is revise, revise, revise!

Second, English is not my first language. Although my TOEFL score is not bad, I constantly feel my writing style will not like those written by a student whose first language is English, so that readers may feel confused after reading my paper.

Get your first draft down, then go back and revise it, and then get someone to look at it that can tell you if its confusing or not. Really, don't worry too much about how your paper sounds. If it's clear, concise, and correct then no one is going to care if it sounds like the author isn't a native english speaker.

Also, I am afraid that what if my theory has some error although I have checked it for many times. If that happens, I am terrified that I will contribute nothing to the community and my career would be destroyed.

I don't think I can help you here. This is something you may just have to face. Acknowledge that you're afraid and then continue anyways.

 

[Orodruin]

The first thing that strikes me is: Where is your supervisor in this process?
The role of a supervisor is to guide and help you become an independent researcher. This includes help and guidance when it comes to writing scientific papers, not only the research part.

 

[Choppy]

Some tips on writing that first paper...

• Start with a discussion with your supervisor. Specific things to discuss include:
  - definition of the problem that you're working on
  - references to previous work that need to be included
  - define what's unique about the work that you've done
  -what details about your methodology need to be included be included
  - what figures should be included and in what order
  - key conclusions
  - limitations of the work
  - points for discussion
• Write the abstract last.
• Start early. I often tell my students when they start a project to start writing the paper as soon as possible when starting a project. Even if you're just writing out notes.
• Identify the journal you want to target early. Read their guidelines.
• The first step is to get it written. The second step is editing. Don't worry if the first draft is no good. It's going to be revised many times (self-edits, supervisor edits, other author edits, cutting the word count down to fit journal requirements, response to reviewer 1, response to reviewer 2, any repeated peer review cycles, final copy edits).
• You don't have to win a Nobel prize. If you've done some work that will be of interest to a specific segment of the scientific community, your goal is to report on that.

 

[saddlestone-man]

I completely agree ... just start writing, it doesn't have to be the beginning you start with. It's best to start with whatever you are most confident/comfortable with, and then work outwards.

The great thing about writing today on a word processor package it that copying/cutting/pasting is so easy. In the "old" days (actually not so long ago) you had to get out the scissors and glue to move things around and then retype it all. And keep on doing this until you and your supervisor were happy.

 

[symbolipoint]

Have you an outline? A format to follow for your written report? Other than non-nativeness of the language, knowing your outline makes planning what to say easier, because you just decide how to fill-in the parts of the outline. If you have written laboratory reports in other courses, this current writing assignment should be much like those - just maybe a little longer. Or much longer.

 

[andresB]

First, my brain is almost empty when I start to write the introduction section. I feel I have many things to say but they disappear when I really start to type. I am afraid the structure of this section will not be well-organized, nor the content will draw the eyes of readers. I try to mimic others' paper while avoiding being plagiarizing. I type some sentences, and then delete them, because I always find them not good enough.

I would say, write the content of the paper first. Then write the abstract and the introduction accordingly. Tell the reader some background, what is new in your paper, and explain to them what they are going to find in the next sections.

Second, English is not my first language. Although my TOEFL score is not bad, I constantly feel my writing style will not like those written by a student whose first language is English, so that readers may feel confused after reading my paper.

Just write a first draft without worrying much. Then, after the paper is more or less complete, return and review every sentence. I use Grammarly for that.

 

[Haorong Wu]

Thanks, @Drakkith, @Orodruin, @Choppy, @saddlestone-man, @symbolipoint, @andresB.

Thanks for all your advice. I will keep the introduction and abstraction for the last. I am writing the other part now. It is much easier to write since I have already reported those parts to my team several times.

In my college, we have to take a writing course in the first year. However, most of us feel that we learn not much from it. Well, it seems that my supervisor will not intervene our writing process. We will submit our draft to him after we finish it.

 

[hutchphd]

. Well, it seems that my supervisor will not intervene our writing process

Perhaps he is trying to teach you ! You may well thank him (her?) later. Good luck.

 

[Irishdoug]

Hi, there. I am starting writing my first paper now. But I do not feel very well.

First, my brain is almost empty when I start to write the introduction section. I feel I have many things to say but they disappear when I really start to type. I am afraid the structure of this section will not be well-organized, nor the content will draw the eyes of readers. I try to mimic others' paper while avoiding being plagiarizing. I type some sentences, and then delete them, because I always find them not good enough.

Second, English is not my first language. Although my TOEFL score is not bad, I constantly feel my writing style will not like those written by a student whose first language is English, so that readers may feel confused after reading my paper.

Also, I am afraid that what if my theory has some error although I have checked it for many times. If that happens, I am terrified that I will contribute nothing to the community and my career would be destroyed.

Well, I feel more anxious now.

As a native English speaker, this will unlikely be the case. It may well be that one will be able to tell you are not a native speaker however it is unlikely they will be confused. From the short paragraphs you've written here your English seems fine as does your grammar. So I wouldn't worry bout that aspect at all.