Editing Series: Conclusions
In this series, I’ve wanted to take you through the editing process. We’ve started with big picture items like conceptual work. We’ve discussed math, specifically the basic math of editing. We have discussed structure. We delved into another – particularly fragile – structure: the paragraph. Last week, we thought about the introduction. This week, we’re focused on conclusions.
Now that I am writing about conclusions, it occurs to me that I neglected to provide one bit of wisdom regarding the relationship between introductions and conclusions. Your first conclusion is probably the best place to start for your introduction. I usually just write the analysis until it is finished then flip that conclusion up to be the first draft of the introduction.
Before I begin, I have to say that I dislike conclusions. I don’t even like to end conversations. This stems from the belief that writing is an extended conversation that has much in common with Lamb Chop’s “Song That Doesn’t End.” Nonetheless, ending a piece of writing is rather necessary. So, I created a re-frame for myself: I conclude knowing the conversation isn’t quite over, just paused.
In what follows, I have a few ideas for conclusions that might work depending on the kind of conversation you’re having with your readers. Largely, I am thinking of academic book writers with this list.
The Meeting: In this kind of conversation, you have an agenda or you came to do a job. Either way, the bet conclusion is to remind folks of your agenda and the outcomes. So, the conclusion becomes an opportunity to sum up the major points of what you’ve written including your major question, argument, and evidence. Sometimes, we leave meetings with to-do lists. If that is the case with your work – that is, you want your ideal and implied reader to do something specific – tell them.
You Call Me Back: In some written conversations, you’ve provided folks an offering. That is, you know your idea is a small part vis-à-vis the larger conversation. For this kind of writing, you may pose a series of questions that extend your ideas. You can also point the readers toward the kinds of questions they may ask. In this way, you prime the pump so that someone else can pick up the research/ideas where you left off.
The Multiverse: This kind of conclusion makes the point that anywhere one goes in the multiverse, the writer is right. When writing my first book, I knew I had started a conversation about Arabs and Black folks that people were surprised to read. Often, I had to field questions about why I wasn’t discussing Islam, or why I wasn’t talking about cross-racial/cross-ethnic dysfunction. So, in addition to managing expectations in the introduction, I used the conclusion to map out a series of projects I could have done. I pointed out that Arab and Black American literatures resonate with each other on the basis of form and genre.
Personal Insight: Some writers find it useful to provide a personal anecdote or relate the argument to a personal story (personal to them or someone else). I typically use this in the introduction, but I have seen this successfully done in conclusions. Some social scientists refer back to a research subject or clarify something they learned as a participant observer. These kinds of conclusions are useful when the personal insight brings together the argument rather than opens it up.
I think it might be useful to return to the relationship between the introduction and your first conclusion. As I mentioned, I flip the first conclusion up to become the rough draft of the introduction. The reason why is because the first conclusion is where you arrive when you’re just getting started. When you are writing a first draft, your conclusion is when you’ve finally hit a groove. It is not where you arrive when you’re ready to wrap up the conversation. So, up it goes.
I hope that each of these examples allow you to think through your own conclusions. You can ask yourself, what kind of conversation did I just have? How can I pause it or end it well?
Next week: Style!