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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.