I ran into huge writing problems with my PhD years down the line (I'm part-time) when I started to write my thesis. My supervisor gave me scathing feedback about my writing, which devastated me, but then he sugared it by coming up with constructive suggestions about how I could improve. I felt that my writing had gone downhill since my Masters, though it was partly to do with methodological issues related to my PhD, and also to do with the trickier challenge of writing those long chapters - each one just about as long as my Masters dissertation. This downturn in writing quality was despite my producing a published peer-reviewed journal paper in the middle of this. But PhD writing was something else.

I got through it though, with more detailed feedback and advise from my supervisor. And I've nearly finished my PhD. Just doing the final polishing/rewrites now. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But you need your supervisor to engage more directly with you about what exactly is wrong, so you can fix it.

Good luck!

I can't really offer you any advice that hasn't been given already, bt just wanted to reassure you that you aren't alone! Sometimes my writing would make a GCSE student blush! Like you I am constantly pulled up for structure and 'jargon' - although I tend to get a little overexcited and get a little flowery in my writing (I should be a novelist really!) Structure is something you can work on, I'm working on mine and I think its getting better, similarly if you read through all your work several times, or better still give it to someone not in your field to read, and can see that its way too complex or too much jargon in there for a lay man then its probably gone too far. I do feel these days that trying to keep it 'simple' I'm dumbing down so much, but my sup says that that is what is necessary - well written, perfect grammar, coherent structure, no unnecessary jargon. There will always be some, but it must be easily explained. I'm very lucky in that my sup is 100% supportive - he really is the best sup ever - and gives me a lot of time and advice, but he says it has taken him 30 years in the field to get to the standard he is at now - I'm not expected to be anywhere near after 3 years of BA a year of MA and one year of PhD which is reassuring.

Does your sup ever write with you or give detailed feedback? It may be worth asking if he/she could. Several times I have submitted just around 1K words on a subject, he has immediately edited it to cut it down to maybe 600 - you can't see the darned joins! one word of his amounts to 30 of mine in some cases, it really is an education in itself so if your sup would do this for you it may be worth pursuing?

Stressed, sometimes I feel you and I have the same supervisors except that mine is a woman!!

Cant write a word about my sup's writing advice for me, or what I learn from her style, that is any different from Stressed's. What I am reminded of is usually to make the introduction be the 'steer' preparing the reader for what is to come. And the conclusion must be clear in your head, long before you get to it, and not just be a summary of the paras you wrote but your 'conclusions' from the piece.

So damn hard I tell you....

You guys are awesome, i'm so glad i'm not alone on this.
My sup has always seemed too busy to have long sessions or to make much constructive feedback, but part of this is because over the last few pieces of work he sees no real improvement in me, and a small part of me thinks he sees me as a lot of effort!
This weekend is dedicated to seeing how my writing has changed from UG to PG and now to PhD *sighs*, so hopefully from that i can pinpoint some explanations for my recent submission. As my mum says, i will battle on.
;-)

My supervisor was 500 miles away from me by the time this happened, so long meetings were out. Basically what he did was write a couple of pages feedback on the chapters I'd sent him, and he summed up what were the fundamental problems with my writing style in a couple of sentences. It shouldn't take your supervisor that long to give you similar feedback, and it's their job to help you through this, so make sure they do!

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Hi Lillily, When I first started with my new sup it became very clear to me, through him pointing things out and giving detailed feedback, that I had serious problems with my writing. He re-wrote one of my sections as an example for me and the difference was amazing; rather like the process Stressed described. I read 'Ten Lessons in Stye and Grace' (now indispensible for me); got some books on English grammar and punctuation (including Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' which is hilarious and very informative); and thought and worked really hard on it. Now my writing is much better, although I will always be improving. It's hard work, my productivity in terms of words written per hour has dropped dramatically, but my fnished work is miles better, and the whole process is more straightforward and less time consuming overall. Developing these skills has also helped me to formulate my ideas and frameworks in a more organised and coherent way, it seems to have created a tidy space bewteen my head and the page! So the hard work is well worth it, and the necessary improvements are more than possible.

So good luck!! And let us know how you get on.

p.s. I'm so obsessed with it now that I had to come back at place a missing semi-colon, or maybe that's just procrastination...