Writing a journal article = Making a good argument

An argument is a discourse intended to persuade. You persuade someone by engaging their doubts and providing evidence to overcome those doubts. A journal article, then, is a piece of writing that attempts to persuade a reader to believe in something. It expresses a point of view intended to influence. (p. 82)

... Don't have streams of data without any argument. Make sure that your ideas about the data are organizing the article, not the organization of the data itself. If you have divided your article into sections that mirror the chapters of your literary subject, or the chronology of related events, or the order in which you came across the information, stop and revise. You should arrange and group the data according to what you want to argue about it. (p. 89)

The Instant Thesis
#1. Although ___________ (general statement, opposite opinion)
#2. Nevertheless ________ (thesis, your idea)
#3. Because ____________ (examples, evidence, #1, #2, #3, etc.)  

I had a eureka moment when I was reading the above text and also reading that first published article of mine. I suddenly realized that it could be the argument that gives the writer a voice. If you are simply stating data and facts and conclusions, that is a report, not a journal article. Anyone can do it, but if you are arguing something, or trying to persuade someone, that is an act of an individual, that is a thinking human voice.

Suddenly, it made sense. I used to like to organize my writing by case studies, or individual by individual, but my supervisor told me that was very boring. On hindsight, not only was it boring, it did not help me argue as well. It is not the best way to position data to prove a point.

This is truly a eureka moment for me. On hindsight, that first article was poorly written because it did not have an overriding message or argument pulling everything together. But I guess the process of writing and publishing it, brought me many gifts, including this newly learnt lesson. So I shall rest my case and not be upset over not learning this earlier anymore. :)

Belcher, W. L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks: A guide to academic publishing success. Los Angeles: SAGE (this is amazing book!)

a scholar in me

I think there is a scholar in me. When I read this account of Parker Palmer on why he was not suited to be a scholar, I saw in who he was not, who I was.

A scholar is committed to building on knowledge that others have gathered, correcting it, confirming it, enlarging it. But I have always wanted to think my own thoughts about a subject without being overly influenced by what others have thought before me. If you catch me reading a book in private, it is likely to be a novel, some poetry, a mystery, or an essay that defies classification, rather than a text directly related to whatever I am writing at the time. (p. 27)

He goes on to elaborate how so... You know... I don't like fiction books and I like to read what is related to my writing, so I can write it better. But I also like metaphoric language and all... I see a scholar in me.

Palmer, Parker (2000). Let your life speak: Listening for the voice of vocation. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco

Vexing questions, real dilemmas and new territories

"It is a mistake to imagine that writers are experts on the things they write about - at least, it is a mistake in my case! I write about things I am still wrestling with, things that are important to me but that I have not yet figured out. Once I master something, I put it behind me. I lose the passionate curiosity that writing a book requires. I write to explore vexing questions and real dilemmas, to take myself into territories I have never seen before in hopes of understanding myself and the world a bit better." - Parker Palmer, Preface of The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity, and Caring, 1999

This resonates with how I feel research writing is about, it is like trying to resolve a mystery for myself. Some big cosmic puzzle is troubling me, and I keep trying to find answers for it, and as I seek the truth, I share it with others. There is no pressure to prove something, I am simply exploring, and so there's no fear of arguments against mine...