Rule #7

Rule seven is "Develop and refine your prose style." All of scholarship in my field is communicated through the medium of prose. Everything I do involved writing, even a lecture delivered orally. Every manuscript or grant proposal I evaluate, everything in someone's tenure dossier, is written. If you can't write well, you are at a disadvantage. If you write exceptionally well, you will do very well indeed in the profession, as long as you can get the writing done.