As I went through the first few pages, I realized that I had read Boice’s book at some point in my doctoral degree, but never paid much attention to the book, to be perfectly honest. It wasn’t until I decided that I would write up my experiences as a faculty member on the tenure-track that I realized I also needed to read books on academic writing. So, I decided to buy my own copy of Robert Boice’s Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing.
The first thing that I noticed with Robert Boice is that he speaks about writing from the perspective of someone who studies academic writing, and as he himself said, from the vantage point of someone who writes about writing because he actually enjoys the activity itself. I love writing too, as you can tell if you follow me on Twitter, but it’s funny how I’ve actually become more interested in writing about writing
Boice brings up an issue we (everyone who writes about academic writing) all make: you NEED to make time to write. I'm making time now. pic.twitter.com/flPqwUF3K1
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 5, 2017
Like Helen Sword’s books, Boice’s books are grounded on research he’s undertaken on blocked academic writers.
These two quotes encompass Boice's philosophy. His work is grounded on his scholarly research on academic writers (similar to Helen Sword) pic.twitter.com/G4eMUuYOWd
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 5, 2017
It’s clear that Robert Boice’s Professors as Writers has had enormous influence on everybody who writes about academic writing, as I note below.
Robert Boice's research has been influential on basically everyone who writes about #AcWri – Sword is no exception. pic.twitter.com/Xg3lw1iefU
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 24, 2017
@raulpacheco It's tough to even imagine what academic writing advice would look like today without #Boice We all depended on him for insight
— Wendy Laura Belcher (@WendyLBelcher) September 5, 2015
Basically, and in a rough summary of the entire book, Robert Boice says that you can become a better academic writer and overcome your blocks if you are able to provide yourself with the right conditions and train yourself to make writing automatic. I have done that for myself even though it’s super easy for me to get distracted, so I can assure you that there is science to the method that Boice proposes.
These four stages can be applied to any writing project, writes Boice. He also takes pains to explain how to apply to various projects. pic.twitter.com/fCkkVN3tWk
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 5, 2017
One reason why I love the idea of sharing writing advice is because it helps me push myself to continue writing.
This is so true. Boice explains that the best way to fight relapse is teach others. One reason why I share my own writing techniques. pic.twitter.com/JarP1NWHlQ
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 5, 2017
My final verdict is that it’s required reading:
Verdict on Boice's Professors as Writers: excellent read, hard-to-follow-but-valuable worksheets, and excellent 4 Points Plan to improve.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 5, 2017
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