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Or so Paul Silvia would hope.

I am not exaggerating when I write that Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot changed my life. I place it on the same level as Getting Things Done for complete brilliance in simplicity. I am perfectly comfortable with the existence of manic cults rabidly dissecting the minutiae when it comes to these two books. They ought to win Pulitzer Prizes for General Nonfiction.

OK, maybe that is an exaggeration.

But, Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot is perfect for academics and others who have writing expectations (especially as the book is very short!). Silvia is a Psychology professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (disclosure: my institution). He has been a prolific writer and wrote HTWAL to convey the methods that worked for him.

His argument is simple. We need to set regular writing times (starting at four hours per week), establish regular achievable goals (“Finish my novel” is not achievable), and recognize that writing is a craft and not just an art. But there is much more; summarizing his argument down to those three principles is kind of like saying GTD is about making lists.

In addition to the basic ideas, he provides a few tricks for encouraging your writing. My favorite is his use of coffee as a motivator, but his idea of creating a writing group is also brilliant. The writing group, called an Agraphia group, should be a community of peers that meets weekly or bi-weekly to set goals for the coming time period. The peer group should hold each member accountable for the creation of achievable goals and provide positive reinforcement of success.

While the book is geared to research faculty, the principles are certainly applicable for the varied types of writing librarians do. The untenured librarians at UNCG created our own Agraphia group after hearing about Silvia’s book through the faculty grapevine. I think it has been pretty successful. We are very flexible in our writing projects; presentation proposals, user guides for our patrons, and even blog posts are acceptable. In my view, any writing project can provide inspiration for other possibilities plus you are giving yourself time to practice the craft.

Although he briefly mentions this, the only thing I would add to Paul Silvia’s book is the need to have our writing reviewed. Too often in libraryland we seem nervous about letting others read our stuff. In my Political Science graduate program we had regular writing workshops based on areas of concentration, and they were incredibly useful though at times brutal. While I’m not encouraging brutality (much), constructive criticism of ideas and writing style is tremendously helpful. In addition to having them at the local level I wonder if small group workshops would work through ACRL. The sections could call for participants within their subject areas, provide a submission deadline, and then distribute the papers in advance of the conference. Or, even better, we could move into the 21st century and have virtual writing workshops! Maybe there wouldn’t be enough interest; maybe the publishing turnover is too quick in libraryland. Maybe it is something to think about though.

Have you read Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot? If so, did you find it useful or overly simplistic? Other writing tips you would give your fellow librarians?