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, light-hearted, and encouraging book, Paul J. Silvia explains that writing productively does not require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field of psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives detailed advice 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1648 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 149 pages

From the Publisher
A contemporary admonition tells us, "If you talk the talk, you have to be able to walk the walk." Paul Silvia does both; he writes effectively about how to write effectively. Without being either a scold or a Pollyanna, he identifies ways in which each of us can achieve our goals of being more proficient authors.
--Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Professor of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence; author of The Psychology of the Supreme Court and coauthor of Forensic Psychology (2nd ed.) with Sol Fulero.

A common complaint among faculty and graduate students alike is that writing often takes a backseat to other professional and personal commitments. For those who have trouble writing enough, Paul Silvia explains how to write more. For those who already write plenty, he shows how to do so more efficiently and with lower cost to one's other obligations. Every researcher will benefit from the gems of advice in this book.
--Mark R. Leary, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Paul Silvia's new book is just the tonic for academics who want to be more productive. Silvia demolishes all of the typical excuses that people use to put off getting to work, and he gives a few concise, practical tips that will help anyone to write more. Psychologists are the target reader, but professors in any discipline would benefit from the advice in this book.
--R. Keith Sawyer, Associate Professor, Department of Education, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; author of seven books, editor or coauthor of three more, and author of more than 50 articles.

About the Author
Paul J. Silvia received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Kansas in 2001. He studies the psychology of emotion, particularly what makes things interesting, the role of emotions in the arts, and how emotions intersect with personality. He received the Berlyne Award, an early-career award given by American Psychological Association Division 10, for his research on aesthetic emotions. Dr. Silvia is the author of Exploring the Psychology of Interest (2006) and Self-Awareness and Causal Attribution (with T. S. Duval, 2001). In his free time, he drinks coffee; pets Lia, his Bernese mountain dog; and enjoys not writing.

Customer Reviews

Not worth the money
This product has a handful of useful tips but its basic premise can be summed up in a few words: Make a writing schedule, stick to it, and don't make emotional or psychological excuses. That's about all the book has to say, and while the author doesn't claim to do much more, nonetheless it is not worth the money and is not the kind of book you'd want to return to again and again. In addition, its sole target audience seems to be the field of psychology, so its usefulness is even less for people in other fields.

fantastic book
The book is very readable, to-the-point, and its arguments are well-supported. Silvia takes a behavioral approach to writing, focusing on how to form effective writing habits. His book is focused on the field of psychology, but his methods are certainly applicable to non-fiction writing in other areas as well.

Great little book
I implemented some of the suggestions in this well-written guide as I was still reading it. And I will keep using them because they WORK. It's worthy of a place on my bookshelf, but I have to admit it's not up there -- because I continue to use it and to show it to everyone I know in the throes of scholarly writing.