writing up - crafting the story

some personal reflections

Simon Down

what story you are trying to tell?

we deal in conceptual narratives: ‘the concepts and explanations that we construct as social researchers’ (Somers 1994: 620)connecting personal troubles of the people you research together with public issuesin what way does the problem matter to you/others?what will your intervention/writing achieve? for whom?don’t try to tell too muchyou are not an artist/novelist

‘Some people who write books, I’ve read their stories where they build things up that’s not there’(Ralph Kotay, a ‘Kiowa elder and singer’ quoted in Lassiter 2001: 137)

don’t speak for othersdon’t over-analyseco-produce

description requires precision and careanalysis and interpretation requires honestyscience rigour is no automatic shortcutbe reflexive, try alternativeshow plausible is your story?

on weaving

how does it come together?

William Carlos Williams wrote:‘A writer is a person who’s best is released in the accomplishment of writing – perhaps it is a good variant to say – in the act of writing. He does not necessarily think these things – he does not, that is, think them out and then write them down: he writes and the best of him, in spite even of his thought, will appear on the page even to his surprise, unrecognised or even sometimes against his will, by proper use of words’ (1974: 7)

6

use of data

use of quotes: what people don’t say that is also importantbe selective with data: illustrate your contribution, whilst doing justice to the overall project/lifeworldshow, don’t tell (and don’t show and tell)don’t repeat and list; you are not trying to prove anythingall roads lead to contribution and theoretical generalisation

7

use of data

various representational/ analytical logics can apply:

polar/extremesthematic; connected to aspects of the research question/ proposition/contribution ideal typical (i.e. composites)narrative/story driven

writing

attractiveness of prose

drama

repetition +/-

nuance/ qualification

confidence/authority

detail vs. stereotype/ cliché

etc.

plausibility/

credibility

flow/pace

metaphor, etc.

engagement