drastic cuts

 

There are various techniques to remodelling text where you think (or your feedback suggests) something drastic has to change in your paper. Usually remodelling text is largely about the structure of how you are presenting the information in your paper, and the identification of The Big Picture.

Every chapter has a main message, just like every journal article. There is the meta argument, the main point of the exposition. Although this almost always remains clear to you as the writer, it can get lost on your audience as you descend into the minutiae of explanation. First make sure you know what you are arguing in this chapter. It should be prefaced in your introduction, summed up in your conclusion and carried through the body of the chapter.

The need to remodel occurs when we move from the ‘inside narrator’ position of writing a chapter (it makes sense in my head) to the ‘outside reader’ position where feedback has caused us to doubt either our, or the reader’s, sanity. Where there has been confusion, a lack of clarity in writing is often to blame and a bad structure only compounds this problem. In the early days of your PhD, it might be that you have misunderstood some fundamental literature and you need to discuss it with your supervisor, but often either the research is incomplete, leading you to draw too many unsubstantiated conclusions, or the way you have communicated your argument needs careful redrafting. Sometimes you get caught out promising something you don’t actually deliver. Remodelling text is an opportunity to re-present the big picture so that it is front and central to the organising structure which guides the whole piece.

How to remodel

You can remodel by ‘reverse outlining’ the paper. Using this process, print out a copy of your paper. Write a number beside every paragraph starting at 1 for as many paragraphs as you have. Next, summarise each idea in that numbered paragraph on a pad of paper, using one line to sum up that paragraphs contribution. We identify the core message, paragraph by paragraph. This boils down a 30-40 page chapter to a couple of sides of A4 lined paper. When we are distilling the idea encapsulated in each paragraph, we can quickly see that some paragraphs do very little work (need deletion) or are really badly drafted, or are in the wrong place. You need to do this forensic re-examination of your paragraphs.

Next, make a check mark by each faulty paragraph and then a list of what is required to fix these issues. Sometimes whole sections need to be collapsed, or moved. You can repeat this process, structured by headings until your reverse outline tells a cogent story that can be followed by a non-specialist. This will be the new structure.

TODAY I WILL…

  • Write for 2 hours minimum working my way down my list;

  • If you have feedback on a chapter that indicates your work needs ‘major surgery’, you will be doing large scale editing, so try out this technique of remodelling text;

  • You can also use this technique if you find yourself simply lost and in a muddle, unsure of how to communicate your ideas.