Customer Reviews

Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Face it, all of us academics would like to think that someday a muse will descend upon us and infuse us with the capability to write the great work in our field without self-doubt, procrastination, etc. Boice shows empirical evidence that demonstrates these hopes are in vain (which is no big surprise to anyone), but even better, he provides the solution: writing is like physical exercise--the more you do it, the easier and more pleasant it becomes--if you write a little bit every day, even if you think it's pointless, at the end of a six month period, you will have 150 pages of writing to edit. It makes sense and it works. He even talks about reasons that people want to resist this truth, and how to trick yourself out of your writer's block. Grad students especially should benefit from the strategies he suggests.

If you are writing a dissertation, thesis, or engaged in other regular academic writing this book is a must read. Boice's sage advice is based on years of experience with and (yes, empirical evidence) research on helping academicians produce necessary writing -- regularly. He includes self-assessment questionnaire on writer's block that enables you to target your areas of strength and weakness so you can focus on exactly the areas that hinder your progress. The book is short (180 pp including excellent anotated bibliography). He answers the agonizing questions about why you don't write when you want to and desperately need to write. He discusses, in clear, concise detail, the phenomenology of writing problems, while providing both short- and long-term strategies for ensuring writing productivity that are actually do-able. His writing style is easy, conversational and reassuring. He takes you through his actual consultation process, session by session. Simply stated, the book is just great.

This is one of the best books out there for academics who need help getting themselves to write. I'm a clinical psychologist who coaches faculty, post-docs and grad students, and this is one of the first books I recommend. Almost all of Boice's prolific body of work is useful - and his suggestions, both in books and journal articles, are backed up by research - this makes his contributions unique in the genre of self-help books for academics.

This book is fantastic. Just when I thought I'd read it all, I stumbled across this book while surfing the Internet. It is by far the best book I've ever come across to help someone overcome procrastination or any other writing "problem."

The first chapter is a bit overly academic in tone, but the rest is down-to-earth. He does an exceptional job discussing free-writing and clustering; and then he goes on to give further advice regarding how to manage your social and environmental situation to encourage your productivity. His advice works very well -- and it is not just for academic writers.

Boice's book is a little gem, published in 1990 by an obscure press in Stillwater, OK. Its step-wise process to facilitate writing is tested and it works. I especially like where he quotes his clients on their objections to his process, and then gives his answers to these objections. The "blocking questionnaire" in the appendix is most helpful for pinpointing factors that inhibit writing. This book deserves a wide audience.

If you are writing a dissertation, thesis, or engaged in other regular academic (or other writing) writing this book is a must read. Boice's sage advice is based on years of experience with and (yes, empirical evidence) research on helping academicians produce necessary writing -- regularly. He includes self-assessment questionnaire on writer's block that enables you to target your areas of strength and weakness so you can focus on exactly the areas that hinder your progress. The book is short (180 pp including excellent anotated bibliography). He answers the agonizing questions about why you don't write when you want to and desperately need to write. He discusses, in clear, concise detail, the phenomenology of writing problems, while providing both short- and long-term strategies for ensuring writing productivity that are actually do-able. His writing style is easy, conversational and reassuring. He takes you through his actual consultation process, session by session (a rare insight and a true bargin). Simply stated, the book is just great.

After my third client remarked, "the Boice book is what got me through my dissertation," I knew I had to read Professors As Writers. As an academic coach, I work with professors by telephone to accelerate their rate of writing and publishing. In this guide, Boise gives detailed suggestions on how to manage the primary challenge faced by my clients - a lack of external structure to support regular writing. He also addresses the crucial (but often overlooked) issue of how to build social support for academic writing and publishing. Academics who have wished their appointments came with a set of clear instructions on how to write easily and productively will appreciate what Boise offers in this book.

I fought against Boice's behavioral structuring but it was pretty funny to read his little dialogues with a similar minded skeptic. I tried the brief, timed daily sessions and found they freed me up rather than made me feel restricted, because over time I saw more pages produced, and had more raw material to work with; didn't have to wait for the long blocks of time.
Things that most helped me:
* Free writing to start, including not even about the material at first
* Only 15-30 minutes/day b/c so difficult to find the big chunks of time
* Keep a log of time put in and check-in weekly w scheduled call
Having reached the end, I'm for the first time more open to sharing rough drafts of ideas before they're ready. "Begin before you're ready" was his point, but I didn't get that, feeling it was too personal to share something so raw. Now I'm not going to think of it as quite as personal--it's not me, those words, because they're not final. Not the only thing I meant to say or have to say. So no criticism of them can really assail me. In fact it's just a work in progress that gets really helped by the mutual conversations. Over time, I'm struck by how memorable Boice's points are, like that one about "externality"-- --the importance of getting writing outside your mind and into other hands. Despite its writing style, I'd grade it an A- for truly helpful content. It helped me go from writing or revising about 25 pages a year to over 250 a year for the past few years.

I am halfway complete with my first textbook project.
I purchased this book and "How to Write a Lot" at the same time. The latter I should have returned, but this one is very good.. Good ideas.. puts writing into perspective. Easy reading. The analysis and suggestions regarding writers block were very helpful.

A good book expanding on the idea of professional writing for college professors who are not only interested in writing for professional development and tenure, but who actually enjoy writing as an art. The book contains good information on the process of productive writing across several venues.