How to Revise an Article, a personal journey, part 3

I must admit something uncomfortable about writing: regardless of your experience, you must expect some emotional tumult as you revise. In the case of this article, I feel it when my body stiffens at reviewers’ reports or when my eyebrows dance at finding a new source or when my fingers pulse when writing a new turn of phrase.

The next step of revision, for me, includes finding some new sources. Someone had to have written something in the intervening years! There are some sources and I quickly asked for them on Interlibrary Loan. But, those sources largely come from an adjacent subject matter.

Where does that leave me?

In a word: refreshed. Though a part of me is disappointed that I did not find new sources or someone on my wavelength, another part of me is thrilled! I am excited to think differently from other scholars on these subjects and work to get some new ideas in the mix. To be honest, I have had to work, emotionally speaking, to think this way. I used to think I was just a weirdo with weird ideas. Checking in with others in the field helped me think more expansively and gave me much-needed affirmation. NB: Get an intellectual crew!

In addition to reading the new sources, I plan to go back to some older ones. I have an anthology or two where I left some chapters unread. Anthology introductions tend to also be useful for thinking about how to introduce a subject or quickly explain a field. I also have some books that could be differently useful than they have been in the past. Reading the same book with a different mindset opens new possibilities.

For those of you who have been at this precipice, you know this reading can be exhilarating and exhausting. But, you have to go through. You can’t abandon your TBR list because you aren’t “finding anything.” The next connection could be just on the next page. Further, re-reading familiar sources grounds you in the field.

Ever wonder why certain scholars know a book or an idea cold? This is why. We read and re-read. My particular secret is that I take notes and transcribe quotations. I write notes to myself to explain ideas. If nothing else, this gives me a paraphrase to use in my own writing or verbal explanations.

While I am in the thick of reading, I will not write on what I find. I’ll keep you posted when I return to the nitty-gritty of incorporating sources and retooling the actual article.