After you have been through a draft or two, you should have several paragraphs to work with. As I tend to write while I think, my argument is seldom included at the top of the paragraph, so I have to find it. One method that I am using while revising my prospectus that has proven effective is the reverse outline.
Method:
1. Copy the first sentence of each paragraph and paste into a new document.
2. Now that you have the sentences in order, you can read them in order and reflect on how they might change.
Examples:
The following is an example of a paragraph I revised from my dissertation prospectus today:
Original:
Meanwhile, legal decisions such as Corrigan v. Buckley (1926) gave restrictive covenants the force of law, and Federal lending guidelines offered white citizens affordable rates and choices of places to settle, where people of color, and especially African Americans, could not get their loans guaranteed. Some white homebuyers seeking to borrow money to move into integrated neighborhoods had difficulties financing their loans. Further legal and social constraints in the form of discriminatory building and lending, fearmongering among real estate agents and associations, and racial violence also weighed in heavily on the contours of the urban landscape.
Revised:
Discriminatory building and lending, real estate’s institutional fearmongering, and racial violence weighed heavy on the urban landscape. Until 1948, legal decisions such as Corrigan v. Buckley (1926) had given restrictive covenants the force of law, and Federal lending guidelines offered white citizens attractive rates in addition to greater freedom in choosing where to settle. At the same time, people of color, African Americans especially, could not get their loans guaranteed. Even some white homebuyers seeking to move into integrated neighborhoods had difficulties financing their loans.