Hi everyone!

I just got off reading through 'Revising Your Organization and Argument’ in ‘The Craft of Research' by Booth et al today and thought of sharing my first thoughts about it!

The authors, Booth et al, highlight the need to diagnose and revise the organization and argument of your research paper so that readers get your message clearly and unambiguously. The authors went on to describe how to go about doing these revisions, both to the organization and structure of the report as well as to the arguments in body paragraphs in a rather simple and clinical manner, thereby demystifying this often-enigmatic part of the writing process. Multiple revisions are must-dos to get your message across! It is not a one time, casual activity if you are looking for that impeccable document.

While reading this, I could not help but recall my own experiences while writing my very first published research paper. This was on a topic that excited me a lot, on ‘ Industry 4.0 technologies in Agriculture’ and I thought I wrote a well-crafted draft after conducting a thorough, extensive academic and field research. However, I was astonished to see the feedback I got from the peer reviews. While the framing (organization) seemed to be alright with clearly messaged sections, it was the arguments that required more reinforcements around key messages. As I looked again into my draft from a reader’s mindset and lens, I found that it was not pointed enough and often lacked the continuity, abruptly coming up with new ideas between paragraphs.

However, I was fortunate to have received the mentorship of my teachers and family members as they guided me on how to refine my writing. One of the most vivid pieces of advice that I received was from my high-school English teacher, who mentioned that writing is like creating a sculpture. You have to thoughtfully chisel at the right places and with the right amount of strength to carve out that masterpiece of David and become a Michelangelo. I recall writing at least 10 drafts of the research paper post that peer review, get feedback from my teachers and friends, and streamline the arguments to get to that perfect message in a pithy and concise manner.

The following video from Lumen Learning sums up this topic quite nicely on revising and editing your research paper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OZmS5tagok

Do take a look at this website if you would like to learn more.

https://composingourselvesandourworld.pressbooks.com/chapter/22-1-revising-your-research-paper/#Intr

And, how better to conclude than these fine words from Michelangelo himself on this topic!

“In every block of marble, I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to other eyes as mine see it.” – Michelangelo