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How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing | 
| Author: Paul J. Silvia
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $10.17
You Save: $4.78 (32%)
Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 3549
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 149
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 0.4
ISBN: 1591477433
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.042
EAN: 9781591477433
Publication Date: January 15, 2007
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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Product Description
All students and professors need to write, and many struggle to finish their stalled dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. In this practical, lighthearted and encouraging book, Paul J Silvia explains that writing productively doesnot require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field: psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends and vactions. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives advise from the trenches on how to write, submit, revise, and resubmit articles: how to improve writing quality; and how to write and publish academic work.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
Perfect. Absolutely Perfect. February 9, 2007
32 out of 37 found this review helpful
I take great pleasure in being the first person to review this gem. I am not feeling particularly eloquent; my words will not do justice to this fine book, but I am not going to let that stop me from suggesting that if you are having any problems getting pen to paper, fingers to keys, or butt to seat, this book is for you. Dr. Silvia presents scientifically sound AND entertaining, engaging information. It is a quick read, which is good. You have to write after all. Speaking of which, I'd better get to it! This book is super. TOC: Specious Barriers to Writing a Lot, Motivational Tools, A Brief Foray Into Style, Writing Journal Articles, Writing Books, and a couple more. This book is published by the American Psychological Association, which tells you a lot about the quality. It is part of their LifeTools imprint. Dr. Silvia is a very talented young man, obviously a talented writer, and a darned good psychologist, too, I bet! The book is targeted for those interested in "productive academic writing," but I think it is perfect for anyone interested in productive writing of any type. Okay, now back to my writing.
I didn't want to like it August 25, 2007
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
I remember when this little pisher and James C. Kaufman, who wrote the little blurb on the front, were just undergrads. There's little here that doesn't appear in Boice's tome "How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency," but this is actually much more accessible, brief, and witty. The suggestions are quite behavioral and simple. He challenges some irrational cognitions that keep people from writing and recommends intuitively appealing interventions. These techniques have worked for me for years. I knew it was really good because as I read it I got more and more angry that I hadn't written something like it myself.
Motivational, Insightful and Extremely Helpful! December 16, 2007
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
This little volume carries a lot of punch; don't be confused by it's small stature. While Silvia outlines his method right from the start - Schedule Time to Write - his development of the things one needs to consider in order to be productive is wonderfully insightful.
Perhaps the most useful chapter is the second in which he lists a number of "Specious Barriers to Writing a Lot," i.e. poor excuses. It may be his background in psychology, or just his keen observational and analytical skills, but he is right on target in identifying those excuses we use time and again to prevent productive writing. His combating of these barriers is both humorous and motivating.
The only downside, and it is minor, is that he writes as if to an audience comprised solely of psychologists. Granted, he is one and the book is published by the APA, but the psychological examples can become a bit grating. That said, his book still speaks to a wide readership that can glean wonderful tips from his book. (My field is in the humanities and I found the book to be top notch!) I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a writer - especially the academics out there!
409 words/day over the last 28 days May 10, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
All of my grad student friends went to a talk by Dr. Silvia during a recent conference. I decided to go to a different talk on some boring topic I don't remember anymore. Everyone came back raving about what a good talk it was and how helpful the advice seemed. So I decided to buy this book because I didn't want to be left out of the conversation.
Over the last month, I followed the advice in this book and tripled my average writing output even though I had a master's thesis to defend and was teaching my first class. I owe 3908 words in my thesis and 11452 words overall to the method in this book. I think I owe a piece of my sanity to it as well.
the best book on writing I have read June 1, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a great little book on writing. It is a fast read, very practical, and filled with sound advice. My favorite part of it is the way in which it debunks the excuses that are so easy to use to avoid writing. It discusses the process of setting aside time to write, setting prioirities, and monitoring progress on goals. I realize this sounds very dull, and I have definitely read books about prioritizing and goal setting that were boring. But this book is engaging throughout. Reading it felt to me like having a nice conversation with a teacher I like a lot, whose words I really want to take in and use.
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