{"id":68358,"date":"2023-05-30T01:12:50","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T05:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=68358"},"modified":"2023-05-30T01:12:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T05:12:50","slug":"story-structure-2-research-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/story-structure-2-research-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Story structure 2 \u2013 research writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

How is writing research like story? Last post I wrote about\u00a0Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s man in hole\u00a0<\/a>structure and how that might help you think at a very macro level about how to organise your material. This post is also about structure \u2013 this time a four part structure I\u2019ve called C3REC.<\/p>\n

The C3REC structure is an academic writing version of the creative writing ERCR.<\/p>\n

Well who doesn\u2019t love an impossible acroynym\u2026 C3REC is no easier to say than ERCR. But let\u2019s go back to the original ERCR. Put simply\u00a0ERCR means Exposition, Rising action, Climax and Resolution.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

ERCR goes like this: Exposition is all the stuff you, the reader, needs to know before you start the story proper. Next the Rising Action \u2013 that\u2019s where the writer offers you a series of events \u2013 this then this then this. And all of the this then this then this builds up to a Climax \u2013 a big thing \u2013 which then leads on to the Resolution, where everything comes together.<\/p>\n

Yes, yes I know a lot of contemporary story telling doesn\u2019t do ERCR. Lots of writers enjoy plunging you into something straight away or they omit a conclusion, leaving you to sort out which of the possible endings you think happened. And the Rising Action can take place in different places, times and be told from various points of view. But you know, for the sake of thinking about academic writing, there are enough stories that still use the ERCR structure to make it worth thinking about for a minute or two.<\/p>\n

So how does ERCR translate into academic writing, the C3REC?<\/p>\n

Well, the C here is for Context times 3. The first E is for Evidence Rising. The second E is for Extending. The final C is for Crunch.<\/p>\n

Context.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you start a piece of academic research writing the reader generally needs to know quite a bit. Just like fiction readers. But academic readers need more. Before they get into your research proper, they need to know three things. Context times 3 is<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the topic, but also why its an issue\/proble\/puzzle worthy of exploration<\/li>\n
  2. where the topic fits in its field, what it builds on, where you see there is a problem or a niche you can address, and what the research will add, and<\/li>\n
  3. how the research was designed and done.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Rising Evidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is where you present your the bulk of your research \u2013 whether its analysis of texts, stuff you\u2019ve counted or stuff you\u2019ve seen or stuff you\u2019ve made happen \u2013 it is presented as a series of steps. The results rise, there is a narrative arc \u2013 the presentation is going somewhere. Each step builds a case. First there\u2019s this theme or experiment or this case study or this event or this was written, and then comes\u2026 and after that which leads onto.. here you add incrementally to what the reader knows, step by logical step.<\/p>\n

    Extension.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    But building steps is not enough. In research writing, whether it\u2019s a thesis or a peer reviewed paper, you are generally expected to do more than simply present an analysis of results, you need to say something about what all of those cumulative steps mean. You can explain them further. You can connect your evidence with some of what you discussed in Context 2 \u2013 what\u2019s in the field.<\/p>\n

    Sometimes you can combine Rising evidence and Extension in your text, but it\u2019s always helpful to remember both parts, you know that you have to work with both. The point of Extension is that you have to take your research results somewhere.<\/p>\n

    Crunch.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The crunch is where you sum up what you\u2019ve done. This is a resolution but it\u2019s a particular kind. Here is where you say what all this research adds up to. You make\u00a0your point.<\/a>\u00a0Succintly, and in relation to your original issue\/problem\/puzzle \u2013 Context 1. And then you need to talk about how this is a contribution to the field \u2013 going back to Context 2. And finally you look ahead and talk about any things that arise from the story \u2013 you have a trailer for a possible new story which started with your research. Your trailer provides some clues as to So What and Now What.<\/p>\n

    And yes yes I know that C3REC can translate into Introduction, Methods Results and Discussion if you want it to. But it might do more. Unlike\u00a0IMRAD<\/a>, C3REC can also support a range of other text types, from thesis by papers\/publication to more playful and arts based text types. C3REC is more about the content than the form. How you present the material in each of the four moves in C3REC is less prescribed.<\/p>\n

    C3REC might also work as a revision strategy, where you go back to your text and ask if all of the pieces are in place.<\/p>\n

    But I know C3REC is not a catchy acronym, and you probably won\u2019t find too many people who know what it is. Don\u2019t worry, they don\u2019t need to. Just keep C3REC to yourself. It\u2019s just a little shorthand between you and me. Our little secret.<\/p>\n

    And a bit more about story and research writing next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How is writing research like story? Last post I wrote about\u00a0Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s man in hole\u00a0structure and how that might help you think at a very macro level about how to organise your material. This post is also about structure \u2013 this time a four part structure I\u2019ve called C3REC. The C3REC structure is an academic […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86115],"tags":[434453],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-68358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-research-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStory structure 2 \u2013 research writing - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/story-structure-2-research-writing\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Story structure 2 \u2013 research writing - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How is writing research like story? Last post I wrote about\u00a0Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s man in hole\u00a0structure and how that might help you think at a very macro level about how to organise your material. This post is also about structure \u2013 this time a four part structure I\u2019ve called C3REC. 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