开始写作论文之前，需事先做好一些必须的准备工作。这些准备工作既可以是与论文的主体直接相关的，也可以是关于某一个部分的一点想法。比如，突然想到可以在讨论部分展开讨论的一个想法，就可以随手将它记录下来。
While you are gathering scientific content, ideas for your paper may occur to you. For example, you may think of a point to include in the discussion. Or you may come up with a good way to structure a table. Write down these ideas; consider creating for each section of your paper a file—either paper or electronic—in which to place them. Not only will recording your ideas keep them from escaping your memory, but having such ideas readily available to draw on can get your writing of to a quick start.
在正式开始写论文之前，最好先做一下口头的报告。既可以是做组会报告，也可以在学术会议中做报告，这将有助于帮助自己理清思路，描摹出大的故事框架。而听众的反馈意见也将有助于写作。
Once you have gathered and analyzed your data, speaking can be a fine transition to writing. If possible, present your work at a departmental seminar or local research day. Perhaps give an oral or poster presentation at a conference. Preparing to speak can help in formulating your article. Also, questions from listeners can help you to shape what you will write.
尽可能做好正式开始写作之前的前期工作，它包括：列出大纲，罗列每一部分需要呈现的要点，安排要点呈现的顺序使之在整体上逻辑自洽，罗列可能的参考文献等等。除了在思想层面做好上述准备工作，还需要根据所要呈现的要点提前制作好图表，并合理地组织起来。
To facilitate writing, do lots of pre-writing. For example, stack copies of published papers in the order in which you plan to cite them. Make outlines. List points you wish to make in a given section, and sort and re-sort them until you are pleased with the order. Perhaps make a formal outline. By doing much of the thinking and organization beforehand, you can lower the activation energy needed to write a paper. In fact, such pre-writing can catalyze the writing process so well that you find yourself eager to write.
写作论文时，可以从自己觉得最容易的任意部分最先开始，而不必拘泥于题目，摘要，引言等等这一最终的固定顺序。比如，很多作者习惯到最后再写论文的题目和摘要部分。一旦开始了论文写作，后续可以从任意自己最舒服的地方继续写作。
When writing, you can start with whatever part of a manuscript you find easiest; there is no rule that you must write the introduction first...And many authors leave until last the writing of the title and abstract. Once you have drafted one section, the momentum that you have established can facilitate writing the others. Feel free to draft the remaining sections in whatever order works best for you.
一旦进入了写作的状态，千万不要因为一些未知的细节而中断写作的进程，可以将其标志成粗体或红色，留待后续查证补全。
Once you have established momentum, beware of dissipating it by interrupting your writing to search for small details. Rather, make notes to find the missing information; to identify them easily, write them in boldface type in your manuscript or use the “new comment” feature in Word.
当结束某一次写作时，可以简单的记录下后续将要写作的要点和内容，这样将有利于下次写作时快速进入状态。
Before ending their writing session, they jot down the next few points they wish to make. Thus, at their next writing session they can start quickly.
