{"id":56312,"date":"2021-03-08T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=56312"},"modified":"2021-03-07T23:55:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T07:55:43","slug":"editing-your-writing-lessons-from-chefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/editing-your-writing-lessons-from-chefs\/","title":{"rendered":"Editing your writing \u2013 lessons from chefs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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You can pick up helpful ideas from the most unlikely places. Like cooking shows. Yes I watch cooking shows, it\u2019s one of my guilty pleasures. I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one, given their popularity. Sometimes they offer more than new ways with potatoes. Just last week I found myself thinking about the ways in which cooking programme judges use the term \u201cediting\u201d.<\/p>\n

You can imagine the context. There is the over-enthusiastic aspiring-restauranteur. \u201cI\u2019m an experimental cook\u201d they say, \u201cI like putting unusual flavours and cuisines together\u201d. \u201c All the things in the Mystery Box are so wonderful I couldn\u2019t decide which to hero.\u201d Or \u201c I want to bring all the things I learnt on my travels together on one plate and show you who I really am.\u201d Or perhaps, \u201c I want to show you all of the techniques I\u2019ve learnt while being here.\u201d These statements are usually made direct to camera with the kind of smile that is intended to disarm and charm, if not reassure, judges and viewers alike.<\/p>\n

Sometimes when the resulting dish arrives at the judging table, the judges beam. They gush. \u201cI\u2019ve never had this before\u201d. \u201c Wow, you\u2019ve done something truly original here\u201d \u201c I think it\u2019s fantastic.\u201d More often though, the various judicial comments made as the dishes are being prepared are realised \u2013 \u201c It all seems terribly sweet\/soft. I think we need a bit of crunch\/texture\/acid\u201c, or, \u201cI\u2019ve never heard of putting X with Y before. I hope it works out for them.\u201d ( It won\u2019t.) And when the finished plate finally arrives, we all see what the judges were concerned about \u2013 smears of puree, puddles of jus and oil, a swamp containing more vegetables than you can count, variously prepared. The culinary equivalent of a cabinet of curiosities.<\/p>\n

And what do the judges say then but \u201c Edit. You need to edit. Less is more.\u201d By which of course they mean, don\u2019t try so hard. Be more consistent. Not so many influences at once. Don\u2019t put everything you like in one dish. Don\u2019t try to be too clever. Get rid of some things. Don\u2019t clutter.<\/p>\n

So editing, in the cheffy sense of the word, is about taking control of the impulse to do whatever you think counts as accomplished and prize worthy. Focus instead on respecting the ingredients, creating flavour and a neat presentation. Sound familiar? Maybe because there\u2019s an academic writing equivalent to the over-enthusiastic cooking competitor and their overcrowded plate.<\/p>\n

The academic text which needs a good culinary style edit is generally the result of one of three things :<\/p>\n