@~/.maestro/workflows/run-mode.md # Phase 3: Section Drafting > **COMPACT SENTINEL [Phase 3: Section Drafting]** > This phase contains 8 execution steps (Step 3.1 -- 3.8). > If you can read this sentinel but cannot find the full Step protocol below, context has been compressed. > Recovery: `Read("phases/03-section-drafting.md")` Write all paper sections as LaTeX content following the outline, writing philosophy, and style guidelines. ## Objective - Draft all paper sections as LaTeX content - Follow the Narrative Principle: every section supports the central contribution - Apply writing philosophy from top ML researchers - Produce complete draft ready for citation insertion and polishing ## Execution ### Step 3.1: Setup Draft Directory ```bash mkdir -p $OUTPUT_DIR/.writing/drafts ``` ### Step 3.2: Write Abstract Follow the 5-sentence formula (Farquhar): 1. **What you achieved**: "We introduce...", "We prove...", "We demonstrate..." 2. **Why this is hard and important**: the gap or challenge 3. **How you do it**: method description with specialist keywords for discoverability 4. **What evidence you have**: experimental validation summary 5. **Your most remarkable number/result**: the headline result Rules: - 150-250 words - Delete generic openings like "Large language models have achieved remarkable success..." - Start with the specific contribution - Include specialist keywords for search discoverability Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/abstract.tex` ### Step 3.3: Write Introduction Must include (1-1.5 pages max): - Clear problem statement (2-3 sentences) - The gap in current approaches - 2-4 bullet contribution list (max 1-2 lines each in two-column format) - Brief approach overview - Figure 1 reference Writing rules: - Methods should start by page 2-3 maximum - Front-load the contribution -- reviewers form judgments before reaching methods - The three pillars (What/Why/So What) must be crystal clear by end of introduction - Use the stress position: place emphasis at sentence ends - Subject-verb proximity: keep subject and verb close Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/introduction.tex` ### Step 3.4: Write Methods > **CHECKPOINT**: Before proceeding, verify: > 1. This phase is TodoWrite `in_progress` (active phase protection) > 2. Full protocol (Step 3.1 -- 3.8) is in active memory, not just sentinel > If only sentinel remains -> `Read("phases/03-section-drafting.md")` now. Enable reimplementation: - Conceptual outline or pseudocode for the core algorithm - All hyperparameters listed with values - Architectural details sufficient for reproduction - Present final design decisions; ablations go in experiments section Structure: - 3.1 Problem Setup / Preliminaries (notation, definitions) - 3.2 Core Method (the main technical contribution) - 3.3 Additional Components (if any) - 3.4 Implementation Details (training, optimization) Rules: - Explain intuition before presenting equations - Define all notation before first use - Consistent terminology throughout (pick one term per concept, stick with it) - Use verbs, not nominalizations: "We analyzed" not "We performed an analysis" Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/methods.tex` ### Step 3.5: Write Experiments For each experiment, explicitly state: - What claim it supports - How it connects to the main contribution - Experimental setting (details in appendix) - What to observe: "the blue line shows X, which demonstrates Y" Structure: - 4.1 Experimental Setup (datasets, baselines, metrics, compute) - 4.2 Main Results with Table 1 - 4.3 Ablation Studies with Table 2 - 4.4 Analysis / Qualitative Results Requirements: - Error bars with methodology (standard deviation vs standard error) - Number of runs and seeds - Hyperparameter search ranges (appendix) - Compute infrastructure (GPU type, total hours) - Bold best value per metric in tables - Include direction symbols (higher-is-better / lower-is-better) Use `booktabs` for tables: ```latex \begin{tabular}{lcc} \toprule Method & Accuracy $\uparrow$ & Latency $\downarrow$ \\ \midrule Baseline & 85.2 & 45ms \\ \textbf{Ours} & \textbf{92.1} & 38ms \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/experiments.tex` ### Step 3.6: Write Related Work Organize methodologically, not paper-by-paper: **Good**: "One line of work uses assumption A [refs] whereas we use assumption B because..." **Bad**: "Smith et al. introduced X. Jones et al. introduced Y." Rules: - Group related approaches into 2-4 thematic categories - Position your work relative to each group - Cite generously -- reviewers likely authored relevant papers - Use `[CITE: description]` placeholders where citations are needed (Phase 4 will resolve) Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/related-work.tex` ### Step 3.7: Write Conclusion and Limitations **Conclusion** (0.5 pages): - Restate the contribution concisely - Summarize key evidence - Brief future directions (2-3 sentences) - No new information **Limitations** (required at most venues): - Honest acknowledgment of weaknesses - Explain why limitations do not undermine core claims - Reviewers are instructed not to penalize honest limitation disclosure - Pre-empt criticisms by identifying weaknesses first Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/conclusion.tex` ### Step 3.8: Write Appendix Move supplementary material here: - Detailed proofs (if any) - Additional experimental results - Full hyperparameter tables - Dataset details - Compute budget breakdown - Additional qualitative examples Write to: `outputDir/.writing/drafts/appendix.tex` ## Writing Style Reference ### Sentence-Level Clarity (Gopen & Swan) | Principle | Rule | |-----------|------| | Subject-verb proximity | Keep subject and verb close | | Stress position | Place emphasis at sentence ends | | Topic position | Put context first, new info after | | Old before new | Familiar info then unfamiliar info | | One unit, one function | Each paragraph makes one point | | Action in verb | Use verbs, not nominalizations | | Context before new | Set stage before presenting | ### Micro-Level Tips (Perez) - Minimize pronouns: "This shows..." -> "This result shows..." - Verbs early: position verbs near sentence start - Delete filler: "actually," "a bit," "very," "really," "basically," "quite," "essentially" ### Word Choice (Lipton) - Be specific: "performance" -> "accuracy" or "latency" - Eliminate hedging: drop "may" and "can" unless genuinely uncertain - Delete intensifiers: "very tight approximation" -> "tight approximation" ### Precision (Steinhardt) - Consistent terminology: different terms for same concept creates confusion - State assumptions formally before theorems - Intuition + rigor: intuitive explanations alongside formal proofs ## Output All draft sections written to `outputDir/.writing/drafts/`: - `abstract.tex` - `introduction.tex` - `methods.tex` - `experiments.tex` - `related-work.tex` - `conclusion.tex` - `appendix.tex` - **Variable**: `draftSections` (path to drafts/ directory) - **TodoWrite**: Mark Phase 3 completed, Phase 4 in_progress ## Next Phase Return to orchestrator, then continue to [Phase 4: Citation Management](04-citation-management.md).