Scientist go to conferences held at exotic places. They go to winter schools where they teach in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Researchers are getting paid for following their passion and pursuing their hobby.

If they are group leader they have the freedom to choose their subjects of study. Scholars are trusted by society (may be not in the US, but surely so in Germany) and admired for their intelligence by their relatives. They go to work ill-dressed and are proud of it. And they do not sit behind their desk all day (unless you are a theoretician). This sounds like an ideal job.

As a junior researcher with a little experience in writing articles, I have asked a few senior scientists about the part that they think is the best to start writing a manuscript from. Some experimentalists propose to start with the graphs and their captions. For a theory article, some scientists like to start with the the main body of their calculations and then insert the words in between the formulas.

The writing of scientific texts is often initiated by a junior scientist working out his findings in a draft version of a paper or thesis. Then, he discusses this draft version with his direct supervisor, professor, or co-author. As pointed out in the writing guide, this reviewing should be a bilateral iteration process. If these reviewers do their job properly, they provide the junior scientist with loads of suggestions, critical comments, and references.