The Writing Fun Never Ends

Big news!  This morning I got the long awaited email that my first manuscript made it through another step of the publication process: Review.  This journal is known for its quick turn-around time so we actually got a formal apology for how long it took (although it was a blessing in disguise that reviewer #3 held onto it until after my prelims were over.  I should bake them a cake.) So, now I have 45 days to really hit the grindstone and channel my inner Carl Sagan (scientist and Pulitzer Prize winner) because not only do I have to make the "major revisions" to my manuscript to ensure it's publication but I also have to finish writing and submit my dissertation proposal  as well as complete another $50,000 grant proposal all due by the end of October.  

The writing fun never ends! 

This is why it is important to include scientific writing in your graduate training.  If it's not part of your required coursework, my recommendation is to take every workshop offered.  Even repeat workshops when they're offered.  I do more grant writing than the average grad student, but every graduate student should be first author on at least one paper by the time you graduate.  And if you want it to be published in a good journal, you need to be a good writer.  And to be a good writer, you have to practice