Writing papers: literary and scientific

Abstract

This paper aims to summarize why I write, how to find a motif, and how to polish and finish a manuscript. For William Carlos Williams, practicing medicine and writing poetry were two parts of a single whole, not each of the other. The two complemented each other. Medicine stimulated Williams to become a poet, while poetry was also the driving force behind his role as a doctor. Alexander Pope, the 18th century English poet, wrote a poem entitled “The Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot” that was dedicated to a friend who was both a poet and a physician. In this poem, we receive an answer to the questions of “Why do you write? Why do you publish?” Pope writes, “Happy my studies, when by these approv’d! / Happier their author, when by these belov’d! / From these the world will judge of men and books.” When I write, I first reflect on whether I only want to write something for its own sake, like “a dog chasing its own tail,” instead of making a more worthwhile contribution. When my colleagues ask me, “Why do you write essays as well as scientific papers?” I usually answer, “Writing is a process of healing for me—I cannot bear myself unless I write.” When the time comes to sit down and put pen to paper, I remind myself of the saying, festina lente (in German, Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast, corresponding to the English proverb “more haste, less speed”). If I am utterly exhausted when I finish writing, then I know that I have had my vision.