Writing a journal article in 12 weeks: Week Ten

I’m using Wendy Laura Belcher’s book Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success to prepare my paper for publication. This is Week Ten. 

In this chapter, Belcher distinguishes between marcostructure revising and microstructure revising. Revisions discussed during previous nine weeks dealt with marcostructure revising, which, according to Belcher, is the most difficult type of editing. This week is about editing sentences. Belcher lists several basic principles of microstructure revising:

• Don’t use two words when one will do;
• Don’t use a noun when you can use a verb;
• Don’t use an adjective or adverb unless you must;
• Don’t use a pronoun when a noun would be clearer;
• Don’t use a general word when you can use a specific one;
• Don’t use the passive voice unless the subject is unknown or unimportant.

Belcher believes that certain words can signal possible need for microstructural revisions. She offers a diagnostic test to help her readers locate those signal words and improve their writing. The diagnostic test consists of three parts. The goal of the first part is to cut unnecessary words. The second part involves adding extra words for better clarity. The third part of the diagnostic test is designed for revisions that can’t be accomplished by either cutting or adding words and require replacing a weak word with a strong one. 

On the first day, I read the workbook. On the second day, I ran the entire diagnostic test. I used the Microsoft Word search function and applied different colors to different test components. It was a rather mechanical work, but I felt exhausted by the end. Belcher allocates Days Three and Four to making revisions based on the diagnostic test. However, it took me three full days to revise the entire paper. On the sixth day I worked on correcting other types of problem sentences (i.e., problems with comas, quotation marks, capitalization, hyphens, spelling, etc.).

I find this week one of the most productive (except maybe for Week Three, which dealt with building an argument). Belcher’s diagnostic test was very helpful. I remember several years ago I took a qualitative data analysis course, where I learned a lot. One week at the end of the course, we were told to work on micro editing of our analyses. The guidelines were similar to Belcher’s principles of microstructure revising, but, without her diagnostic test, I felt lost and wasn’t quite sure how to implement those principles. This time having the test made all the difference. Now I better understand what to do at this stage of revision.