Editorial Review:

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.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

A Tightly Written Behavioralist Approach to Production of Academic Writing:

I confess I have not been as productive a researcher as I should have been since getting tenure. This little gem of a book is changing both my attitude and behavior toward academic writing. There are numerous articles hidden in the dozen or so new data sets I have collected over the past few years. This book has already helped me establish my writing goals and now is the time to produce. Thanks, Dr. Silvia for help and advice. By the way, as of Nov. 2008, he is at the University of North Carolina at... more info

"How to write a lot" helps a lot:

This book is very easy and pleasant to read. In my opinion, the first 4 chapters are the most original and interesting, giving motivational 'tools' to schedule writing time and stick to it. Regularity in writing is the secret to productive writing, according to Paul Silvia.
This book helped me to change my behavior with writing.
However, I found the 3 chapters about style and about writing articles in journals/books less original; I had already read such information in other books on... more info

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... more info

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.

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