Dear Fabian, 

My best time for writing papers and for conceptual or creative work is between 4 or 5 AM up  to 12 - 1PM. The corrections and technical matters I realize usually afternoons.  4-5 intensive days can be enough for writing the body of text after having all concepts generated and ordered. Additional 1-2 days are for translations. 

Dear Fabian, 

My best time for writing papers and for conceptual or creative work is between 4 or 5 AM up  to 12 - 1PM. The corrections and technical matters I realize usually afternoons.  4-5 intensive days can be enough for writing the body of text after having all concepts generated and ordered. Additional 1-2 days are for translations. 

There was a  Brazilan writer who used to say, writing is either easy or impossíble. To me writing is a matter of planning it correctly. You have to know what will be said, to whom and the level of knowledge and interest of an ideal reader. You have to set aside supporting thesis and the bibliography. If this BASIC is observed, most of US don't, the text will be ready before we are able to notice it. Otherwise, we run the risk to go in cycles, be boring and repeatitive.

Hi Fabian !

I prefer late night writing. Probably because of inner calmness and mental concentration.

From my observations there two extremes among academic writing habits of peers: the disciplined one and the procrastinating one. Most of us fall in between, I suppose.

For the more disciplined writers it makes sense to set up a schedule for their writing, which they follow and which is not over-ambitious.  They use those time slots for their writing that they feel comfortable with, and they follow their writing schedule as if it were a teaching schedule. And you don't want to miss any classes as a teacher, do you? The procrastinating writers won't get happy with this approach because they would be frustrated all the time when they couldnt't meet their own goals.

For those 'last minute' writers another way of scheduling might be appropriate: start as late as possible. Then, they have no other chance than to finish the paper just in time, and there is no spare time for other activities available any more. This might be a bit stressful but at least they get things done without too much frustration.

Good post so far. Of course, the answer is not a concrete one because we are all individuals that work differently. Of the am / pm debate - I have to say that I am an early am ideas sort of person. My most productive work comes early in the morning, at work, a few hours before any of my colleagues arrive. It's quite - and there are no distractions  from constant interruptions, emails etc. 

I agree Fabian - I like to spend intensive days on a single project. A good 2-3 days usually sees an article come to fruition - as long as I keep my office door closed and pretend that I am not there. 

Regarding the mechanics of writing a useful source for ESL speakers is the Academic Phrasebank linked below. The say 'The resource was designed primarily for academic and scientific writers who are non-native speakers of English. However, native speaker writers may still find much of the material helpful. In fact, recent data suggest that the majority of users are native speakers of English.'

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

I write creative nonfiction best between 4 and 6 am. Then for my research I start at 9 am to 2 pm, intensive. I turn off my phone and write. However, before starting the intensive writing exercise, I prepare a flowchart that outlines the structure of my manuscript. Sometimes, I then write the headings and subheadings on the main MS Word. Using this method, I write an average of 2,000 words per day (on some crazy days I reach 8,000 words).