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| I have difficulty to write as clearly as possible (E1, E6-E8). Unclear writing can be the result of a lack of (argumentation) structure in your text or a result of style or phrasing problems. The former is a more fundamental problem when writing a scientific text, but the latter problem can definitely make any excellent argumentation very difficult to read. Argumentation should be: Scientific text should be transparent, predictable and therefore relatively ‘dull’. You state beforehand what you are going to explain to the reader. You specify how you are going to explain it: how many aspects and how they can be linked. Finally, you come to explicit conclusions and refer back to your line of argument. It often proves useful to argue by schematizing. Two relevant techniques are: • A table: specifying columns and rows (different variables and their interrelationships); the empty boxes in the table reveal gaps in your reasoning. Don’t expect yourself to write your final texts in one go. Adopting the right style immediately is asking the impossible. Writing is rewriting. Rewriting requires time and is hard work. Rewriting requires professionalism: that is the dedication to learning from your own mistakes and an awareness of the problems facing the reader. You have to be self-critical. Consult Skill Sheets E8 and E9 for helpful tips about common style errors and common phrasing problems.
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