Perspectives

This entire post is riddled with perspectives. Get ready.

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It was the pandemic, and I was shocked when an advocacy group wanted to hold a seminar promoting a particular cause to students, and the event was around four hours long. I was shocked and told them that audiences wouldn't have the attention span for four hours for such an activity. I was dumbfounded when I was aggressively told that if the audience wanted to advocate for that cause, then they would stay. 

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A highly respected journal publishes research articles that are but a few pages long compared to the usual periodicals. The articles here have highly technical writing; only experts can read and understand them at first glance. The practice works because it was meant for a specific audience, and the journal's authority is highly sought.

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All new faculty at my university receive employee orientation and some training. I always cherish an essential lesson from one of the speakers. In fact, I quoted this same luminary a post back. Dr. Allan De Guzman reminded us to know our place. Such a statement can sound rude in most conversations, but the way the esteemed professor delivered it was smooth and polite. It was good advice.

I recall seeing a meme yesterday commenting about how the world of education can foster an elevated sense of self such that one will tend to look down on others. This has relevance in research writing and publication because it is easy to get lost in this part of the academic wilderness.

The best way to keep one on the right path is to remember two perspectives.

1. Your perspective as a writer.
2. The perspective of your would-be reader.

You need to remember the first perspective to ensure that you keep the argument ppr advocacy that you are trying to relay.

You have to enforce the second perspective to deliver your message clearly.

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Why you can't proofread your own work?

You can proofread your work to ensure that what you are trying to say is in the text. You proofread to make sure you remembered something.

But you always need someone else to reread your work because there are mistakes that we commit simply because we do not know that what we did was wrong. So, swallow that pride and let someone else who knows more look at your work and let them comment most harshly. Be thankful that they beat your work up because now, you can correct it.

Jargon and digestibility 

Jargon is words that have technical uses in different academic programs. They are the language of the discipline where you belong or where you are trying to prove that you belong (i.e., if you are a would-be Bachelor, Master, or Doctor). The use of specific keywords shows that you and your work are acceptable. There's something worth remembering here, too.

Use the jargon; don't just put it on the manuscript.

That means that as you write, the jargon appears, but your subsequent statements also show that you understand what it is. 

Sometimes, you must also include an explanatory statement to help readers understand the jargon. This is because there will be interested people who may want to read your work, yet they may need to be more experts in the niche that you have written on. You don't need a definition of terms, but you can find ways to converse with your reader and add explanations without intruding on the text. How you strategize this also shows other experts that you understand what you are saying. This, in particular, is necessary for those trying to defend a proposal. Whan you forget to put the rest of perspective in your writing, your panel will tend to get lost in what you write, they will get pissed, and they will add unnecessary suggestions because you did not clearly convey what yu needed to deliver.

Remember, not everyone shares our own vision of the same thing, just as the quote says on our Magic: The Gathering card for today.

Tune in next week when we talk about ethics.

(Image Source: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=73927)