Tag Archives: revision strategy

revising – nine steps for making meaning

Posted on May 10, 2021 by pat thomson

In 1973 the late Donald Murray published an essay in The Writer in which he argues that writing begins when the first draft is completed. From then on, he says, the writer revises, reads and changes their words, closing in … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, revision, revision strategy, thesis revision | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

making your writing authoritative – a citation revision strategy

Posted on April 19, 2021 by pat thomson

Readers expect academic writers to know what they are talking about. We meet that expectation by grounding our writing in good scholarship – and making it sound authoritative. Authoritative. You can see the words author and authority contained within authoritative … Continue reading →

Posted in authority in writing, citation, citations, laundry list, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

revising like a reader

Posted on December 7, 2020 by pat thomson

Academic writing is generally intended to be persuasive. The writer – let’s say that’s us – wants to put a proposition to the reader, and convince them that what we have presented is credible. Our writing is worth taking seriously … Continue reading →

Posted in reader, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

revision – writing without protection

Posted on August 24, 2020 by pat thomson

Academic writers need to let their readers know that they know what they are talking about. But feeling and talking like an expert is not easy – in fact, it’s often the exact opposite of how you think about yourself. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, Peter Elbow, protective scaffolding, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

this, they, it, those, these – a revision strategy

Posted on July 27, 2020 by pat thomson

One of my pet peeves is reading sentences which contain an ambiguous pronoun.  The pronoun stands alone, isolated. The lonely goatherd on the hilltop. Sentences that start with, or contain, an unattached this, they, it, those, these seem to expect the reader … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, grammar, revision, revision strategy, syntax, thesis revision, vagueness | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

a festive gift from patter – a checklist for revising methods chapters

Posted on December 23, 2019 by pat thomson

PhDers sometimes find writing the thesis methods chapter a pretty tedious business. But the methods chapter is a key part of the examination process – it shows that the researcher knows how to research. You see, examiners make their decision … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, data, data analysis, methodology, methods, methods chapter, research methods, revision, revision strategy, thesis revision | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

begin as you mean to go on #wakeupreader

Posted on March 2, 2017 by pat thomson

Your average doctoral thesis is about the same length as a fat airport novel, but nowhere near as racy. We could/should ask whether a thesis ought to be as riveting as a whodunnit or chick lit.  And we’d probably conclude that a … Continue reading →

Posted in revision, revision strategy, sentence beginnings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

tackling a messy first draft

Posted on April 25, 2016 by pat thomson

You may have just produced a great wadge of material through free writing. Or perhaps you have a very messy draft of a paper, or a draft thesis chapter. Where to start to try to sort out the useful writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments