Previously we put together an outline for the maternal and child obesity article that I have been asked to write. Today I am going to talk you through beginning to write the paper. Rather than give you my actual writing, I think it may be more helpful to explain why I am approaching it in a certain way.
The
first section from the outline (see 6/12 post) was
I. The effects of obesity on the
mother in pregnancy and childbirth
A.
Weight gain in pregnancy
Remember
when I talked about writing the literature review (see 4/26 post)? I discussed
starting your literature review broadly and narrowing it as you progress, which
I will also do my paper. I want to present a case during my review, that the
issue is real and should be of concern to the reader. So I will carefully lead
them in this direction. First, I need to educate the reader on terms and
definitions of what I will be talking about. I will start with explaining what
I mean by obesity, and give some definitions. If I have any quotes it would be
in this section. Since this paper is for practitioners (midwives and doulas)
any guidelines as to how to recognize obesity that I can provide will be useful
for them in their practice.
I
want to show that obesity is first an issue in the US in general, so it would
make sense to look at some stats from the National Institute of Health (NIH) or
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) demonstrating the importance of the
issue. Then I will narrow the topic to obesity and pregnancy- how many women
are we talking about? This is also where I will discuss what is a normal weight
gain during pregnancy and what is abnormal. I’ll discuss the interaction of
pre-pregnancy obesity and weight gain during the pregnancy. What are the major health
concerns during pregnancy for obese women?
Again,
I want you to notice that I am guiding and educating my readers, do not assume
that they know anything about the specific subject. Assume your readers are
intelligent and experienced in their field, but do not use jargon. They can
always skip over info they already know, but you can’t go back and fill in
knowledge they are lacking. Do not feel
the need to write “academically,” typically such a style comes across as
difficult to follow and makes the reader have to translate it; instead be
logical, define terms, and guide them in the direction that you want them to
go.
Next
in my paper, I will look at the issues related to obesity and childbirth, how
does it complicate giving birth? Again, my focus is on the mother, I will
switch to the child in the 2nd section. I keep reminding myself as I
go – why do we care about this issue?
I
always enter citations/ references as I go, and make notes to myself when I
need to find a citation to support a statement I have made. Remember that any
facts you state must have a citation. I also make notes (using comments in
track changes) of areas that need more literature or need additional support from
the literature.
Once
I have a section that seems to be taking shape, I start the editing process –
rereading and clarifying. I will start my next writing session by rereading
what I wrote the last time and seeing if it still makes sense. Have I missed any
steps in my logical argument? Have I led my reader to the point that I wanted to
make in the section, that obesity is a serious issue for the mother during
pregnancy and childbirth?
How
does today’s writing relate to your dissertation? You also must educate your
reader, build a logical argument, and demonstrate why your reader should care
about the topic. As, potentially, a future reader of your paper, I beg you not
to try to write “academically!” Your paper should be a careful balance between
writing professionally about a technical subject and avoiding the use of the
thesaurus just to impress. It does not impress me using convoluted language, I
really prefer to understand what you are saying.
Next
time we will look at how to keep going when you have set backs.
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