Becker, Howard, (1986) Writing for Social Scientists, Chicago: U of
Chicago Press
Chapter 1
People perform rituals to influence the result of things over which they
think they have no means of control. Writers often fear that either they
won't be able to condense their thoughts clearly onto paper, or that what
they write will be wrong and people will laugh at them.
Two habitual problems are passive construction and abstract nouns, primarily
to avoid being direct. We shun claiming direct causality. We also use
"Greek-fed, polysyllabic bullshit"
We should write so clearly that no one could misunderstand it and make changes
we don't like. p 13.
It's also better to edit afterward, not as you write it. Do it in stages,
with a rising criteria for excellence p. 14. A first draft shows you which
choices you have already made. p. 17
Seek out good editors of your preliminary work. p. 22
Readers are not claravoyant, and if they misunderstand a passage they often
make up their own interpretation, which colors their review and improvement
suggestions for that passage, which explains why two people can give opposing
comments to the same passage. p. 23
Ch. 2 Persona and Authority
Graduate students use big prose because it makes them feel more developed.
Pedantic style comes from status confustion. "To overcome the acadamic
prose you must first overcome the academic pose". p 31
Everyone who writes adopts a personae that does their speaking for them.
Often they try to act more knowledgeable than laypeople to justify their
seemingly easy work life. p. 33
Students often imitate their teacher's style to gain legitimacy in the field.
Writing is one of the few ways one can act like a professional.
Ch. 3 One Right Way
There are many effective ways to say something. Students usually are loathe
to rewrite something. Unfortunately the separation of scholarly work from
teaching doesn't train students on how to write. p. 45.
Revising and editing happens to everyone. p. 46
Students also wrongly take evaluations of papers by faculty as evaluations
of personal worth. p. 46
There is no right answer, just a bunch of provisional answers competing
for attention and acceptance. p, 47
Students often think that the sentence as constructed is the right one.
Write the introduction last, when you know what you want to introduce. p.
51
Avoid ambigious statements for introductions, but feel free to use them
in drafts to get you started. p. 52
Write as fast as you can, without any reference to notes, outlines, to find
out what you really want to say. Later you can edit it p. 54
Don't be afraid of the chaos in your head as you sit down to write. p.
55
It's so important to write a draft than to spend all that time thinking
about what you want to write. Give your thoughs a physical embidoment.
Making the words real doesn't commit you to dangerous positions -- it makes
sorting our your thoughts easier. p 56
Write the parts that are easiest to write first. Or write your thoughts
on cards and sort them out. p. 61
Sometimes talking about your insoluable problems is interesting writing
in itself. p. 64
Ch. 4 Editing by Ear
Editing is a creative process as well p. 69
Most rules in writing are heuristics and not algorithms. p. 70.
"People do not work by consulting a set of rules or criteria... they
respond as they imagine others might respond, and construct those imaginings
from their repeated experiences of hearing people apply the undefined terms
in concrete situations". p. 71
Read outside your professional field and choose good models of writing.
p. 72
Often each editing change adds clarity and leads to more changes. p. 78
Strive to remove unnecessary words, "they cheat, demanding attention
by hinting at profundities and sophistication they don't contain".
Some basic errors are:
1. Active/passive voice
2. Fewer words p. 80
3. Repetition p 81
4. Structure/content p. 82
5. Concrete/abstract p. 83
-- the more narrower the reference, the more clear the idea
6. Metaphors (cut out the trite or overused ones. Use ones that are still
new and alive.)
Ch. 5 Learning How to Write as a Professional
Learning to write continues through ones entire professional life. p. 91
Learning to see writing as fun, like doing crossword puzzles. p. 95
Becker starts his writing by talking about his ideas with others to hash
out unclarities and dead-end arguments.
Good examples are important in the presentation of ideas p. 105
Ch. 6 Risk
It's easy to think of yourself as a fraud for not behaving as you think
others conduct and write about research. p. 113 Event though you know
that people don't do what they say, it's hard to translate it into gut-level
belief. p. 113
To write one must accept risk that is tempered by trust in yourself and
more importantly trust in others. p.113
People worry that by showing first drafts to peers, it may tarnish their
image. p. 114
Being untenured and giving it to senior faculty is even more dangerous p.
115
But who can you trust -- how about people who already know how stupid you
are (fellow graduate students, etc.).
Sometimes the risk of writing is finding out that you are not who you think
you are. p. 117.
We often believe that talking about work is less risky than writing about
it. p. 118.
But as you write more you begin to realize that the risks are worth taking.
p. 119.
"No one besides me need ever see it -- and I throw it out as quickly
as I can. What I show others are things that I think have some merit, and
even the occaisional paragraph that rolls beautifully off the platen. In
other words, I have some degree of control over the risks involved in writing
and letting others see what I have done. I am not completely at anyone's
mercy, not even the mercy of my own impossible demands for perfection.
I am allowed to throw things away." p. 119-120.
Ch. 7 Getting it out the door.
There is always a tension between making something better and getting it
out the door. p. 123
Scholarly worlds have a deep ambivathe occaisional paragraph that rolls
beautifully off the platen. In other words, I have some degree of control
over the risks involved in writing and letting others see what I have done.
I am not completely at anyone's mercy, not even the mercy of my own impossible
demands for perfection. I am allowed to throw things away." p. 119-120.
Scholarly worlds have a deep ambivalence. They feel if they wait long
enough they will improve it. p. 123
Some people feel that getting things done just to do them smacks of careerism.
p. 126
If you think of schlarly writing as a big game maybe that will help you
"wipe out the screen" of your next paper. p. 127
Most of the academic world requires work to done to be an active member.
If you don't write it, someone else will. p. 129 Professionals orient
themselves to the deadlines and constraints the disciplines create. p 129
Science doesn't need masterpieces of prose, just clear, concise writing
that suggests new ideas. p. 131 Don't overwork a paper p. 131
Sometimes people see things as so complex they can't possible put things
in rational order. We need to put things both logically correct (no reasoning
flaws) and empirically correct (describe as it happens in nature). p. 133
You cannot overcome the fear (of writing) without doing the thing you are
afraid of and finding out that it is not as dangerous as you had imagined
p. 134.
Ch. 8 Terrorized by the Literature
Scholars learn to fear the literature in graduate school. p. 136
Students learn they must say something about all the people who have discussed
"their" problem before them. p. 136 They want to show that they
have looked and that no one has thought of their idea before p. 136
One way is to attach your idea to a well-respected tradition that has already
reviewed the literature. p. 136
The literature is:
1. A source of fundamental ideas
2. Underexploited normal science (a source of hints, hunches, etc.)
3. To symbolize solidarity among people in a field.
4. A concrete example of what good literature should look like
5. Developmental tasks for novices
6. Intellectual small change (show what camp you belong to) p. 137-139
Scholars must say something new while connecting what they say to what's
already been said. p. 141 As you approach total originality, you interest
fewer and fewer people. Everyone is interested in the topics people have
studied for years because they represent a known scientific puzzle. The
ideal scholarly contribution makes people say "That's Interesting!".
p. 141
Use the literature like standard parts of a table in a woodworking project.
p. 142
Collect such pre-fabricated parts for future papers. p. 143
But make sure the literature you cite is logically consistent with your
own argument (or dont use it) p. 147 Don't let the hegemony of literature
deform your argument. p. 149
Ch. 9 Word Processors
Use them!