When using LaTeX, use this writing log in parallel to the main writing project document to track your progress and record your plans. This template can be used in any text editor that supports LaTeX, including online servers like Overleaf. Other compatible text editors include Visual Studio Code, Vim, NeoVim, Emacs, TextMate, Sublime Text, etc. Visit here for an informal review and install instructions for 18 leading text editors.
The writing log is a document that is external to the manuscript. It stores the plans and progress made on a specific manuscript. It is a tool for narrowing your focus and sustaining momentum on the writing project. It is also a tool that eases re-engagement in an interrupted writing project. It is like a master thinking document or a second brain for a writing project.
If you start the name of the writing log with the word log, this will make navigating to the current file easier when using a terminal supported by tab completion.
I use log followed by the project number and name in the Camel or Pascal case.
This helps distinguish the log file from the main*.tex file that contains the manuscript.
- Protocol for planning a manuscript.
- A table of contents that is automatically generated and hyperlinked.
- An automatically generated index that is hyperlinked.
- Support for generating a references cited section from a Bibtex library.
- Section for lists required for most manuscripts like keywords.
- Includes inventories of the private and public data locations.
- A writing log section for recording notes on each day's accomplishments.
- Plot of wordcount by writing session to track your progress.
Instructions for using the writing log are found in the annotations in the template. You can use logXXXXhiddenCommentsVer04.tex, which hides the comments to spare you the trouble of deleting them while retaining them for future reference. Replace XXX with the project number.
Version 0.3 of the writing log is divided into four sections:
- project initiation
- daily entries
- future additions and tangents
- Guidelines, checklists, protocols, and helpful tips
The subsections of these four sections are shown below.
- Rationale
- Audience
- Target journals
- Related projects
- Potential Introduction
- Potential Results
- Potential Discussion points
- Prior discussion points
- Potential titles
- Potential keywords
- Potential abstract
- Abbreviations
- Potential collaborators
- Potential competitors
- Potential reviewers
- Draft cover letter
- Daily Protocol
- Daily Log
- Update writing progress notebook
- Update personal knowledge base
- Timeline or Benchmarks
- Next action
- To be done
- Word Count
- Ideas to consider adding to the manuscript
- Introduction
- Results
- Discussion
- To be done someday
- Spin-off writing projects
- Tips for using Overleaf
- Protocol for running Grammarly in Overleaf
- Guidelines for debugging the annotated bibliography
- Graphical Abstract
- Guidelines for benchmarks
- Guidelines for using the Writing Progress Notebook
- Guidelines for using a personal knowledge base
- Upload the files into your current writing project.
- Open the writing log file to edit and compile it on the fly.
- Compile times are lightning fast.
- You can configure Overleaf to use its default, Vim, or Emacs key bindings.
Emacs has the latex-mode built into the main distribution.
You can install the AUCTeX package on top of it.
Compile times are several seconds on a 2018 MacBook Pro with 32 GB of RAM.
git clone https://github.com/MooersLab/writingLogTemplateinto your current writing project folder.- Start Emacs, perhaps using the latex-emacs profile.
- Load the writingLogTemplate.tex file into Emacs via the pull-down menu or the keybinding
C-x C-f. - Essential keybindings for editing this file include (note that most of these operations are available via the pull-down menus):
C-gto abort the current command.C-x C-cto quit EmacsC-x C-sto save the current document.C-x C-wto write the current document to a new file name.C-x uto undo the last change.M-UPorM-DOWNto shift lines up and down. UP and Down are the arrow keys.C-c =to create a navigable table of contents at the top of thetexfile.C-c C-ato export to pdflatex, bibtex, make index, and open the resulting PDF in the default PDF viewer.
For more keybindings, see the README.md file of the repository for the latex-emacs profile.
- Writing log template in Org-mode
- Writing log template in reStructuredText reStructuredText is used by programmers for documentation.
- Writing log template in Markdown Markdown variant. Read and rendered to PDF by most good text editors.
- Writing log template in ODT ODT can be read by Open Office, LibreOffice, and MS Word.
- Writing log template in DOCX for MS Word MS Word variant. This is probably the least suitable format for this task.
- Voice computing-related repos
- LaTeX manuscript template
- Org-mode manuscript template
- Slideshow template in LaTeX
- Annotated bibliography Template in LaTeX
- Diary for 2024 in LaTeX- latex-emacs profile
- default Emacs profile
- snippets for latex-mode in Emacs
- Quizzes about Emacs to improve recall of keybindings
- Slides from talk about GhostText, Data Science Workshop, July 2022
- Video link to talk about GhostText, Data Science Workshop, July 2022
- Slideshow about using LaTeX in Emacs, Berlin Emacs Meetup, 31 August 2022
- The writer's crede
| Version | Changes | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Version 0.3 | First posted. | 2024 January 22 |
| Version 0.4.0 | Added subsections on data and code inventories. | 2024 April 5 |
| Version 0.4.1 | Added subsections on lists of videos and blogs. | 2024 April 7 |
| Version 0.4.2 | Added version with hidden comments to spare the trouble of deleting them. | 2024 May 17 |
| Version 0.4.2 | Edited the README.md for improving readabiity. | 2024 May 30 |
- NIH: R01 CA242845
- NIH: R01 AI088011
- NIH: P30 CA225520 (PI: R. Mannel)
- NIH P20GM103640 and P30GM145423 (PI: A. West)