How I write

I am an ESL writer, and mostly I write for academic purposes, not for pleasure. Writing in English takes me a lot of energy and time.
I can't just sit in front of the computer and start writing the whole thing; instead, I usually start with a struggling process to get my first paragraph done, which can take several revisions itself. I need some focused reading on some relevant literature at the same time to progress my first stage. I guess by doing so, I am kind of focusing my ideas, persuading myself, and also getting myself into this English mode. (I have two languages competing in my mind at all times.) Once the opening paragraph is done, I am more like fully warmed up. Then the writing project can be continued in my mind. I always try to jot down the ideas immediately when they come up, which usually happens when I am in shower or in bed. I don't really know how these ideas jump out, but sometimes it's like the comments from the professor suddenly make sense, or something irrelevant I read can click in mind, and create some connections. That's the exciting moment, but doesn't mean this is a fun process. The audience come into my writing processes in two roles: one is the general native English speaker, for whom I want to avoid any "awkward sentences"; and the other is my advisor/professor looming over, who kinda represents the typical readership on the subject I write. For formal writing, there is a style (APA) to follow, and I don't really exercise my voices to give too much personal touch, though sometimes I do get feedback like "you need to be 'critical' on this part...." If time allows, it always helps to have other people look at my draft to either catch some mistakes or clarify some points, though sometimes the comments can be really annoying when I first hear that! Sometimes the reader's comments would make me wonder "as typical readership, are you just stupid or ignorant?!" while sometimes the comments do make sense after I chill and think over.
Getting help from a tutor who share limited background knowledge can be frustrating or provocative. I think it really depends on how I take it.
For example, when the tutor suggested I address why it's significant to look at the different "Chinese heritage" among the immigrants from China, Taiwan, and Singapore, I could have been wondering "they are from three different countries, and that speaks for the 'significant difference', doesn't it?!" or I could be wondering maybe there were some "contact literature" elements in there that need to be clearer to most people who were not that familiar with "Chinese" people.
I think writing processes is inherently dynamic and always evolving with writers. I don't even know if there is actually some sort of a pattern that fits my writing process. And I also wonder what would actually happen if I wrote in my L1.