Something that helped: asking questions

A few days ago, I read Clarissa's basic rules for scholarly writing and found a couple of things worth thinking about. In particular, I found the following section most immediately useful:

Create a specific question you will be answering. The question should begin with an interrogatory word (why, when, how, why, etc.) and end in a question mark. "I'm going to write about Cervantes" or "I'm going to write about Galdos's modernity" are not good essay topics. They will confuse you and create a very watered down, imprecise piece of writing. The best thing to do is to come up with a specific question, write it on a cue card, and stick it in front of the computer screen. Then, every sentence you write should be aimed at answering this particular question and not spread out into other topics.

I realized that I could not answer a specific question about my chapter because I didn't have it boiled down to that point. Since then, I've worked to come up with the right questions that really reflect what I'm doing. And you know what? It's really useful. The chapter organization seems much more logical and imperative, and I have a clearer vision about where it's going. I have a feeling that it will also pay off in the writing itself, but that remains to be seen.