Zeroing in on a central argument is critical to the writer and ultimately the reader of any kind of article.

Novelist often describe the experience of starting a new project with the greatest enthusiasm, writing 10,000 or 100,000 words, only to find they must set it aside. It’s grown cold. It has never gotten off the ground. By that they mean the characters don’t come to life or the story line falters.  They can’t find a door that propels the plot forward. 

         As different as the two types of writing are, social scientists also find that despite the standardized formats of the average scholarly article, they cannot move forward with a project. There is no core argument that provides a thru-line across the different sections of an article. Some might call it writer’s block. More time (and thinking!) is needed for the central idea to crystallize. 

         Finding the right door or the central argument is critical to the writer and ultimately to the reader of any kind of article. It is when an idea clicks into place. It requires confidence that sooner or later, it will come to you.

         Some are likely to find the advice to give it time to be cold comfort in the face of looming deadline or a ticking tenure clock. The only solution is to always have more than one manuscript underway at a time.