Grab a coffee, sit down, and write. These are the pieces of advice that Silva [1] gives in 132 pages of How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. Writing is hard, and learning to write can seem like an insurmountable task. It is not Silva’s goal to guide people in finding their written voice--although he does provide some helpful comments on style. Silva’s intention is to demolish the general excuses that unproductive academics and graduate students use to maintain their comfort with the amount of writing they actually produce. In this blog post, I summarize Silva’s points of argument and help you start writing a lot.
Silva provides four specious barriers to writing that academics and graduate students produce regularly. Specious arguments are arguments that are superficially plausible but fall apart when analyzed closely. He lays out four of the most common specious barriers in chapter two and provides strategies to overcome them. Barrier One: “I cannot find the time to write more” or “I would write more if I could find big blocks of time.” This argument supposes that time is a physical entity that you can hunt down and find. It is not. Productive writers make time to write; they do not find it. Tip One: Make time. Schedule time. Protect your time. Writing in academia, and writing well, will set you apart from your competition. Barrier Two: “I need to do ____ first.” (Insert: ‘data analyses,’ ‘reading,’ etc.) Further reading of articles and data analyses are common excuses in procrastinating writing; however, these are pieces of the writing process. Tip Two: Do these during your scheduled writing time. Barrier Three: “To write a lot, I need a new computer.” No, you really do not. Analyzing this argument breaks down its merit almost immediately. As Silva points out, he wrote most of this book with a folding metal chair, particleboard-folding table, and a laptop with Microsoft DOS installed. Good writing happens anywhere and with various writing utensils. Tip Three: Pen, Paper, and a place to sit is all you need. Get writing. Barrier Four: “I’m waiting until I feel like it” or “I write best when I’m inspired to write.”This is empirically false. Productive writers, including authors of poetry and novels, write best when they write daily. Tip Four: Write daily. (See Tip One.) Once you have set aside time to write, you may use your scheduled time in a variety of ways. It is best to create clear, concrete goals regardless of how you use your time. Display these goals on a whiteboard next to your writing space. These goals should include a list of projects that you are currently working on, steps to complete these projects, and a rank order of priority. Writing goals set for the day’s schedule should be attainable (e.g., write 300 words for ___ project, write two paragraphs for the general discussion, or outline the manuscript for ___.) Importantly, track your progress. Writing in academia is long-winded, so it is important to provide yourself the immediate gratification of meeting your short-term goals. Silva suggests starting a writing group. Spoiler alert, this group tracks members’ writing goals for a week or two week period, leading to social pressure to stick to your writing schedule. A writing group provides social support, positive reinforcement, and punishment if you are not meeting your writing goals. Graduate students and faculty should meet in their respective groups. Silva provides one chapter on the style of writing. For the sake of brevity, I present his subject headings here and list his recommended books on the subject at the end of this post. Choose good words; write strong sentences. Avoid passive, limp, and wordy phrases. Write first and revise later. The last 30 pages of the book include the basic writing formulae for empirical articles, review articles, and books. I will not go into detail about those now, as there are many resources on how to write these types of articles. The most important takeaway from Silva’s book: create a schedule, write during that schedule, and do not wait until you feel like writing. Nobody ever feels like writing—because writing is hard. Assume that rejection is the norm in academia, and the need to avoid failure disappears. The more you write the more rejections you will receive. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you will receive the much anticipated acceptance letter. Acceptance letters will not come if you do not write. So write a lot and write well. Resources Suggested by Silva for Writing: Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4th ed.). New York: Longman. Zinsser, W. (2001). On writing well (25th anniversary ed.). New York: Quill. Baker, S. (1969). The practical stylist (2nd ed.). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. Harris, R. W. (2003). When good people write bad sentences: 12 steps to better writing habits. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Boice, R. (1990). Professors as writers: A self-help guide to productive writing. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. Additional Suggestion: Pinker, S. (2014). The sense of style: The thinking person’s guide to writing in the 21st century!. New York: Penguin Random House Company. References: [1] Silva, P. J. (2007). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
0 Comments
|
Categories
All
Archives
March 2021
|