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[alliterativerevival]

This is, I fear, sort of in the "Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret" school of observations/queries, but here goes. I'm coming along in my dissertation (in a humanities field), and I feel like I'm finally getting to the core of what the project has actually turned out to be about. At roughly the same time, I've noticed that the quality of my writing--as prose, that is--has gone somewhat haywire. Is this, um, normal? My explanation to myself is that this is simply my writing style coming to grips with more complex ideas, and that eventually I will emerge as a better writer, particularly as I get my ideas under control. This sounds rational, but part of me worries that I've really lost it--which leads to the usual worries that my terrible prose will be laughed at by my advisers, make it into one of those year-end roundups of Stupid Academic Tricks, and eventually be inscribed in bronze on the walls of our library as an example of how not to write. (Needless to say, in this scenario, I also do not find a job.)

Also, if this does happen to other people, does anyone have any suggestions for how to think about fixing this? (They're doing wonderful things with electroshock therapy, I hear.)

Again, sorry if this seems like a ridiculous question.

[ever_confused]

I'd say that is the issue.  I can't remember who did research in this area, but it is a phenomenon that has been studied. 

[prephd]

I think the quality of whatever I'm working on starts out seeming outstanding and urgent.  Then I get into a rhythym and everything's good.  Then about 3/4 of the way through, I start having doubts and fears and urgent revisions.  When I'm finally done, I'm moderately happy and a bit convinced that I could have done better.   

[betterslac]

During my second year in grad school I suddenly lost the ability to write coherent paragraphs. I think it had to do with conceptual overload, attempting to come to grips with the nature of serious academic argumentation, and a (sophomoric) attempt to imitate the prose of the faculty with whom I interacted.

I eventually got over it. Or I think I did. The style of my most recent article suggests......

[elsie]

Studies of student writing have shown that the newer and more complex the writing task, the more the student's handle of the mechanics of writing suffers. When students are focused on the ideas and articulating them, the amount of attention they can allot to grammar and usage diminishes. 

You're in the articulation stage of very complex ideas. Work on the style later, during the editing stage, when the ideas themselves will be much more comfortable for you.

[infopri]

I haven't seen any studies, but I suspect that what you're going through is normal, for the reasons you and others have outlined.  If you're still struggling to figure out what you're saying, it's not surprising that you're having trouble saying it eloquently.  Just be content to get your thoughts out on paper (disk) for the time being.  As you become more familiar and more comfortable with the ideas you're trying to articulate, you will find it easier to fix the writing.  And you will have lots of opportunity to revise anything you're not happy with.

Relax, and just get it done.  Good luck!

[alliterativerevival]

Thank you, all--it does feel better to know that this isn't simply my problem. If nothing else, I won't be alone on the bronze plaque.

[tekjansen]

My dissertation (the one I defended, not the one I turned in) was the worst piece of crap writing I've produced since my first grad paper.  Ick.  I'm glad to know there's a reason for it.

[malcha]

Here's the positive side to bad writing:  you won't mind revising it down the line.  These days I prefer the worst written sections of my dissertation and conference papers to the (all too rare) parts where the prose really took off, because the thought that now I have to hack this to bits and redo it to get a book/article seems creative rather than destructive.  It can actually be disabling for me to have the writing, as opposed to the thinking, come out right the first time round.

[post_doc4now]

My dissertation (the one I defended, not the one I turned in) was the worst piece of crap writing I've produced since my first grad paper.  Ick.  I'm glad to know there's a reason for it.

Mine too, only even the one I turned in isn't something I'd go bragging about.  The time pressure and also having to cater to everyone on my committee made it some of the worst writing I've ever done.

Hang in there OP, get the ideas down and then you can finesse later.

[belladonna]

This thread is very informative for me as well. I did notice that pre-grad school, I had no problems with my writing. Then around the second year of grad school, I look at the text I've written and wonder if they make sense. Also, I found that I had a hard time just making words flow. It does make sense that these difficulties are due to me struggling with new concepts.

I still have writing difficulties from time to time. I noticed that I have it most often when I'm dealing with the more complicated concepts in my discipline.

[red_herring]

Yup, that's normal. My writing was also getting worse, until I sat down this summer and tried to revise a chapter for publication. I ended up writing large sections of the piece in the process because it was so terrible. But the rewrite helped me clarify my ideas and to polish the writing. Moreover, it alerted me to all those problems my advisor had drawn my attention to all along; for example, I tend to reverse argumentative structures throughout a chapter which made it necessary to change the order of almost every paragraph and section in the chapter. I now feel much better about the writing and I've noticed as I am continuing to produce dissertation chapters and job materials that I'm slowly becoming a better writer again.

Another thing that was really helpful and that probably kept my advisor from keeping me revise the same chapter over and over again was my writing group. Just having some friends/colleagues read the stuff I churn out and tear it to shreds in my presence has helped me clarify my ideas. It had also made me aware that most academics have writing problems in one way or another. And the nice thing is by helping others resolve their writing issues you become a more alert while writing and therefore better a writer yourself.

[comp_queen]

To the OP (and to anyone else who wants the free advice of a comp teacher for exactly what you're paying for it):

Shoot, this sounds like the writing process!  Most of us are such nerds that from about the ninth grade on we sit down and write our papers in one go.  Then in grad school, when we get to complex stuff that we actually have to work through a few times, we feel like there's something wrong because our papers aren't coming out fully formed.  We're not used to these normal-student-type experiences.

This has definitely been a frustration for me as I ease back into research and consider applying to PhD programs.

Also, though, reading a whole bunch of humanities writing can mess with your style.  Don't flame me, people; I know that academic prose plays by its own rules, but sometimes!

I'll never forget the time one of my grad professors, in all honesty and trying to be helpful, suggested that some of my sentences in a draft were too wordy.  Now a) I liked this prof, b) I was raised with manners, and c) prof was right, so I bit my tongue and kept myself from saying, "Excuse me?  Too wordy?  Have you read your own published work lately?"

[testingthewaters]

Yes, this sounds pretty normal. My diss was, in retrospect, nowhere near as good as it could have been if I had been able to have a little more distance, and some parts were flat-out bad.... but distance is pretty hard to get when you are wading through. This will get better as you are writing, but my own experience and what I've seen in others tells me that you probably won't have the distance you need to produce really good writing until your defense is done and gone and the degree is filed away somewhere in your office.

It's highly unlikely that anyone will ever actually ask you for you diss down the road. Unfortunately, despite how much work you are putting into it now, its also highly unlikely that anyone not on your committee will read your diss. The publications that come out of it, on the other hand, need to be crisp and clean and put you into your field as an expert. There's time for that. Not that I would have believed any of this when I was dissing....

My advice: Get it written, go back and correct what you can on style in a reasonably short period of time, get your degree, get out, and really turn it into something great a year down the line.