How to write a lot (I wish)
I was recently perusing the inteweb looking for books on writing and found How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul J. Silvia. I love reference books on writing as they are a enjoyable procrastination reads. I was reading some reviews on the book and found this interesting bit on AMAZON and thought I would publish it here.
Hello, my name is Renee. I am an assistant professor and a mother. I write a lot.
I inherited this book from a friend who didn't get tenure. I find books on writing valuable, because even though I write a lot, there's always something to learn from others who write a lot.
This book was interesting and easy to read. It was funny, and I share the author's interest in mid-century furniture (although I am not sure it is relevant to writing!). I would recommend it to people who want to read a useful text on writing productively.
However, I am giving this text only three stars because the advice is rather thin, and I do not necessarily agree with two of the author's major suggestions/ideas.
First is the central premise of this book - the author's assertion that the only way to write a lot is to set a schedule and stick to it (p. 17). Setting a schedule and sticking to it is a great way to write a lot. Many people, especially professors, use it successfully. It is well worth trying, and the book explores this very useful technique. However, it is not the only way to write a lot.
Here are some other methods that work for productive writers who do not always write on a schedule.
1. Set a daily wordcount goal. Steven King does this. His daily wordcount goal is 2000 words a day. For an academic, this is an insane goal. Academic writing is moving much slower. A realistic goal for me is between 250-500 words a day, i.e. between one to two pages a day. Get your writing goal out of the way as soon as you can - do not postpone this till the evening. You can grade student papers in the evening, as it takes so much less brainpower.
If you are editing rather than writing, set a page goal instead of a wordcount goal.
2. Grab a kitchen timer and set it for 15 mins. Everyone can write for just 15 mins (in fact, there is a book about it, and it should be available on Amazon). It doesn't matter WHEN you do this, only that you do this. Do at least one session a day. Two, three are better; but do not binge-write (Silvia warns against this, and he is right). In general, setting small daily goals works.
3. Find some buddies and set up a mutual accountability system. Just a short daily email with "I wrote!" is a great motivator. It is easier to do things together than alone. One version of the mutual accountability system is to chat-write together. You get together in a chat (such as google chat) with your buddies and you agree on a chunk of time. After this time you report to each other, and if you have juice left, do this again. Academics I write with usually do 15-20min chunks. Creative writers I write with go for 30 mins as a rule.
Do I write on schedule? Sometimes, but often it is unrealistic for a busy mother like me, who has a child with autism. Some days it is impossible to find 2-hr chunks of time in my day. It is, however, possible to find 15-minute chunks, 30-minute chunks. If you pre-plan and break your tasks into small units, you'd be amazed how much can be accomplished.
My second big quib with the author is his repeating statement, e.g. on p. 130: "writing is hard and will always be hard; writing is unpleasant and will always be unpleasant". I think this is a statement that is both harmful and untrue.
The more you write, the easier it gets. It's like exercise. The more you do it, the stronger your writing muscles become, the easier it is to "work out". Every journal acceptance or a good R&R will make writing even easier for you, because you will see that your effort brings results.
Second, telling yourself that writing is unpleasant and will always be unpleasant is harmful and will, I believe, make you write less, rather than more. Who wants to spend 2hrs every day doing something they hate? Even 15 minutess become painful. Writing might hurt now, but if there is no HOPE of it ever becoming pleasant, why bother at all? I was surprised to read this from a psychologist, since psychologists know very well that as humans we tend to spend more time on tasks that engage our interest and are pleasurable, rather than on painful tasks.
And here we come back to my friends, the creative writers. I often write with my creative writer buddies because they are more often available to chat-write and to talk about wriitng. In fact, I can find somebody to write with almost every time I have 15-20 mins to write. Why is that? The answer is simple. Creative writers love writing, want to write, cannot wait to start writing. It's fun. It can be really painful, and frustrating, but you do it because you love it. And even if you are suffering now, you remember why you are doing it/m . You tell yourself this every day, and you believe it. Most creative writers start out as rather lousy writers - it often takes years to get to publication, but they persevere because of love.
Over the years I have developed this habit as well. In 2002, when I grabbed my first book on writing, writing was excruciating, painful, almost impossible. In 2010, writing is still at times painful, but it's fun. I want to do it. It's awesome.
And that's my secret to writing a lot.
Hello, my name is Renee. I am an assistant professor and a mother. I write a lot.
I inherited this book from a friend who didn't get tenure. I find books on writing valuable, because even though I write a lot, there's always something to learn from others who write a lot.
This book was interesting and easy to read. It was funny, and I share the author's interest in mid-century furniture (although I am not sure it is relevant to writing!). I would recommend it to people who want to read a useful text on writing productively.
However, I am giving this text only three stars because the advice is rather thin, and I do not necessarily agree with two of the author's major suggestions/ideas.
First is the central premise of this book - the author's assertion that the only way to write a lot is to set a schedule and stick to it (p. 17). Setting a schedule and sticking to it is a great way to write a lot. Many people, especially professors, use it successfully. It is well worth trying, and the book explores this very useful technique. However, it is not the only way to write a lot.
Here are some other methods that work for productive writers who do not always write on a schedule.
1. Set a daily wordcount goal. Steven King does this. His daily wordcount goal is 2000 words a day. For an academic, this is an insane goal. Academic writing is moving much slower. A realistic goal for me is between 250-500 words a day, i.e. between one to two pages a day. Get your writing goal out of the way as soon as you can - do not postpone this till the evening. You can grade student papers in the evening, as it takes so much less brainpower.
If you are editing rather than writing, set a page goal instead of a wordcount goal.
2. Grab a kitchen timer and set it for 15 mins. Everyone can write for just 15 mins (in fact, there is a book about it, and it should be available on Amazon). It doesn't matter WHEN you do this, only that you do this. Do at least one session a day. Two, three are better; but do not binge-write (Silvia warns against this, and he is right). In general, setting small daily goals works.
3. Find some buddies and set up a mutual accountability system. Just a short daily email with "I wrote!" is a great motivator. It is easier to do things together than alone. One version of the mutual accountability system is to chat-write together. You get together in a chat (such as google chat) with your buddies and you agree on a chunk of time. After this time you report to each other, and if you have juice left, do this again. Academics I write with usually do 15-20min chunks. Creative writers I write with go for 30 mins as a rule.
Do I write on schedule? Sometimes, but often it is unrealistic for a busy mother like me, who has a child with autism. Some days it is impossible to find 2-hr chunks of time in my day. It is, however, possible to find 15-minute chunks, 30-minute chunks. If you pre-plan and break your tasks into small units, you'd be amazed how much can be accomplished.
My second big quib with the author is his repeating statement, e.g. on p. 130: "writing is hard and will always be hard; writing is unpleasant and will always be unpleasant". I think this is a statement that is both harmful and untrue.
The more you write, the easier it gets. It's like exercise. The more you do it, the stronger your writing muscles become, the easier it is to "work out". Every journal acceptance or a good R&R will make writing even easier for you, because you will see that your effort brings results.
Second, telling yourself that writing is unpleasant and will always be unpleasant is harmful and will, I believe, make you write less, rather than more. Who wants to spend 2hrs every day doing something they hate? Even 15 minutess become painful. Writing might hurt now, but if there is no HOPE of it ever becoming pleasant, why bother at all? I was surprised to read this from a psychologist, since psychologists know very well that as humans we tend to spend more time on tasks that engage our interest and are pleasurable, rather than on painful tasks.
And here we come back to my friends, the creative writers. I often write with my creative writer buddies because they are more often available to chat-write and to talk about wriitng. In fact, I can find somebody to write with almost every time I have 15-20 mins to write. Why is that? The answer is simple. Creative writers love writing, want to write, cannot wait to start writing. It's fun. It can be really painful, and frustrating, but you do it because you love it. And even if you are suffering now, you remember why you are doing it/m . You tell yourself this every day, and you believe it. Most creative writers start out as rather lousy writers - it often takes years to get to publication, but they persevere because of love.
Over the years I have developed this habit as well. In 2002, when I grabbed my first book on writing, writing was excruciating, painful, almost impossible. In 2010, writing is still at times painful, but it's fun. I want to do it. It's awesome.
And that's my secret to writing a lot.
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