One important/odd writing tip that I swear by: Write *before* reading.

Let me explain

It's hard to write, especially when you feel like a fraud in a field/new area. So you try to read enough so you feel like an authority. But the more you read, the more you realize you don't know. And so you keep reading and feeling overwhelmed and become too anxious to write.

My strategy is to avoid the exhaustive reading, at least at first. Read enough so you know the rough contours of the landscape, and then try to tell your story. You will be freer, less encumbered by the stories pushed by others.

See if your sketched story is compelling and coherent, and then go through the literature more exhaustively and see how the evidence supports or disconfirms it. Then revise your story. Then read more, then edit,

You still know as much by the end, but--crucially--you have a draft written. The writing shapes your reading, and the reading shapes your reading, but they go step-by-step, hand-in-hand, rather than all the reading first and then all the writing. It's a cycle, they iterate.

The other bonus is that you get more practice with writing, and anticipating what you think the literature might say. This primes you for inductive thinking and helps you build a more structured store of knowledge.

All that being said, many might disagree. Always do what works for you! That's really my #1 tip. Only try something different if what you're doing isn't working for you. Win-stay, lose-shift...