Book Review: How to Write a Lot by Paul Silvia
A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing
Dec 21, 2008
"I don't have time to write."
"I need to be inspired to write."
"I need to do more research."
"My computer/work space/chair isn't good enough."
If any of these excuses sound familiar, you are not alone. In How to Write A Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing (ISBN 978-1-59147-743-3), Paul J. Silvia outlines the most common excuses writers use to avoid writing. Then he takes a no-nonsense approach to helping writers overcome these barriers in order to get more words on the page.
The book, published in 2007 by the American Psychological Association, has just 149 pages. But it is packed with practical tips for both students and professors who are having a tough time overcoming their aversions to writing.
What the Book is Not
How to Write a Lot is not a scholarly book. According to the Introduction, it is not about "cranking out fluff, publishing second-rate material for the sake of amassing publications, or turning a crisp journal article into an exegetical exposition" (3).
Surprisingly, although Silvia’s background is in psychology, the book will not teach readers how to find their "inner writer," overcome their neuroses, or psychoanalyze their reasons for not writing. This book will also not offer tips on developing new writing skills. The author assumes his readers already have enough writing talent to perform the duties they need to accomplish.
What the Book Is
This book will teach readers how to schedule time to write, then set clear goals and rewards for doing the work that is needed. Silvia takes the approach that academic writing is a mundane task, not an artistic one. This book is about academic writing, not creative writing. Therefore, the writing process should be viewed as a routine task that is performed regularly and diligently.
The mantra of How to Write a Lot is to write a lot and write often. It does not focus on how to write well, although Chapter Five, "A Brief Foray Into Style," does offer a few tips on good writing. The tips are similar to those we've heard all our lives such as "Write good words," "Write strong sentences," and "Avoid wordy phrases." While Silvia offers no new information here, his concise, sensible writing style makes his advice easy for readers to swallow.
Motivating Writers to Write
The most useful chapter in the book is Chapter Three, “Motivational Tools.” This is where Silvia gets down to the nitty gritty of setting a schedule with clear goals and monitoring one’s progress throughout the writing process. The guidance offered in this chapter is worth the price of the entire book.
Writer's Block
According to Silvia, there is no such thing as writer's block in academic writing. Unlike poets and novelists, academic writers simply need to set a schedule and stick to it. "Writer's block," says Silvia, "is nothing more than the behavior of not writing" (46).
While How to Write a Lot tends to have a heavy focus on college professors, it offers some practical advice for students as well. It is recommend it to any high school or college student struggling to write.
 |
