: Is it possible to learn to write a paragraph? I will explain my question here. Please, help a fellow writer. I am doing a PhD and my supervisor is telling me that I do not know how to

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This has nothing to do with writing a "perfect" paragraph, or even with your writing skills in general. It is about the specific requirements of your chosen field, academic philosophy --which is a unique form of writing. Therefore, please let go of your sense that this is a referendum on either you or your writing skills, and don't let it ruin your enjoyment of ordinary writing. There are many writers acclaimed in the world of academic philosophy could absolutely who could never write a single sentence that would interest a mainstream audience (and, vice versa).

It is also the case that philosophers are highly opinionated, and take their opinions as definitive, even when they are idiosyncratic. This means that what your supervisor is really asking is for you to write like she does, which may or may not be like anyone else in philosophy writes. That does not mean she is wrong or that you don't have to do it, but understand that you are matching a particular person's tastes, not meeting a universal standard.

Given that, you want to avoid experiencing this as a general critique, and look for specifics. The usual asks for a philosophical piece have to do with overall structure and general intellectual rigor, not the details of the expression. If, however, you feel confident this is about the details of your writing, then you need to go to your supervisor directly and ask her to take you through an excerpt of your writing and demonstrate exactly what is wrong and how it needs to be changed. Don't expect to agree with her changes, just learn the pattern behind them and how to follow it. I think you'll find that the real problem is not that you can't write, it's that you're having trouble suppressing your own instincts in favor of hers. Just understand it's nothing more than a hoop you have to jump through, and you'll feel better about it.

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You have structured a well-worded question here and I imagine you put a lot more energy and effort into the writing of your dissertation, so I find it hard to believe that your writing is so bad that not one single paragraph is 'worth saving'.

We see some shockingly-written questions on here and this isn't one of them.

I'm going to assume that if you've studied essay writing and understand the structure of dissertations, that you're following that structure with thesis statements, topic sentences, concluding statements and so on, and that the problem is not with structure but the writing itself.

In which case, there are two possibilities here:

She is right and your writing is terrible. In which case, find someone you trust who has already completed a philosophy PhD with outstanding marks and get them to read your work and provide brutally honest feedback on what's wrong with your writing style (and perhaps structure). If they will work with you, you can learn from that feedback and not make the same mistakes again. It seems to me that she is not going to help you get better (and I question what use she is as a supervisor in that case) so you need to find someone who will.
There's nothing wrong with your writing and she has it in for you. In which case, it's a bit underhanded, but you could get the same trusted colleague to rewrite a few of your pages and submit those to her as if it's your work. If she still says it's terrible, you'll know the problem isn't with your writing, it's with her.

Remember, the bad stuff is easier to believe, but it's not necessarily true. The fact that she isn't helping you and has driven you to the point where even the idea of writing makes you feel sick, suggests to me that she should not be a PhD supervisor and that's where the problem lies.

But you need to know the truth: is your writing terrible or is she terrible?

Option 2 is underhanded but it will get you straight to the heart of the matter.

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Create a summary of what you intend to write, formatted as a series of nested bullet points. The deepest bullet points are "single ideas" you can turn into a paragraph. When you do so, try to make the paragraph's topic especially clear in the first and last sentence, and use the rest to defend or develop what you're saying. Since you're doing philosophy. some paragraphs will summarise existing literature, some will make clear what you offer that's new, some will offer arguments and counterarguments, and so on; make sure you know what kind of paragraph each one is.

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Can you tell us the field?

I suggest patterning off an established work you wish to emulate. Perhaps one of your advisor's works - take that and pattern (not copy) from it. Engage the analytical part of your mind. For example, if I were to pattern off your question I would write something with an opening and closing sentence. There would be four points within the body: big picture, personal goal, back story, and reiteration of personal goal.

It is not uncommon for academics to be poor managers. Academics have very few requirements (and no training or education beforehand) when it comes to personnel. Your situation is not unusual - take heart. You'll survive. My first paper was horrific. I did not pattern off anything. I tried to free write it, bad idea. I learned. You will learn, I promise.

Do not try to reinvent the wheel - Find something written by your advisor (or similar) and break it down, then apply your knowledge of your work to that structure.

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