I’ve read quite a bit on writing — mostly articles and blog posts rather than books, because I’ve been very skeptical of the field of academic writing advice and did not want to invest a book’s worth of time. I am very glad that I read this book, though, as it has been an immensely freeing experience. It’s also a piece of great scholarship, the kind whose existence makes me happy. It’s also very well written, the kind that makes you think “ok, yeah, I would take writing advice from you”.
I have attended two writing workshop series that were quite different in structure and format, but both subscribed to the “write everyday” motto. In fact, everything I’ve read/heard so far aside from this book subscribes to that motto. Most of them emphasize early morning writing, too. This has been extremely difficult for me because I’m useless in the morning and I absolutely despise daily writing. I tried, at various times, to force myself to do it: block time off from my day for writing, write in small chunks of time, write without reading or editing, etc. I hated every part of it. It made me not wanting to write when I feel like writing because “what if I run out of energy when it’s writing block time”. Forcing myself not to double-check references or edit as I write clogs up my mind so much I cannot write at all. The result is that I dreaded writing in a way I seldom do. But everywhere I turned the “correct academic writing practice” is to write everyday and write to think and write first edit later.
In this book, Air & Light & Time & Space (which, I gotta say, is hella hard to remember as a title), Helen Sword interviewed a number of academics who have been identified by their peers as successful writers. It turns out that successful writers have all sorts of writing practices. Some write in the morning and everyday, but many do not. Some respond to emails in the middle of their writing, which is something I like to do but is apparently taboo according to the writing advice industry. Some tinker with sentences as they go along. Some plan out the entire paper in their heads and sit down only to type it out. You get the idea.
Instead of a list of commands you’re supposed to follow, this book provides a number of angles that you can use to think about writing, as well as a variety of suggestions of things to try. It’s a book of ideas presented in an orderly fashion, rather than a user’s manual. Many of those ideas are things considered taboo by standard writing workshops; some of those ideas have never occurred to me. For example, some people rent a hotel room to write away from home and in peace and quiet. I’ve never thought of this as something you could do.
The aspect I appreciated the most about this book is how it talks honestly about differences in work style and temperament. At one point Sword discusses joy in writing and how some academics find writing energizing, and therefore something they would love to include as part of their vacation. Yet so much about “work-life balance” is against this idea. We are supposed to not bring work home. And there’s something deeply wrong with us if our ideal vision of a vacation is lying on a beach under the Hawaiian sun and writing a research article.
To be fair, a lot of the work-life balance discourse is about exploitation in higher ed, which is certainly an important matter. And many people do enjoy a living style with clear and sharp professional/personal boundaries. For these reasons, I tend to remain quiet around conversations of work-life balance since I think they are valuable even if I do not empathize. Nevertheless, the sole reason I wanted to be an academic is because I do not want a 9-5 job. I want to work when I feel like working, in exchange for not working when I don’t feel like it. Having this book tell me “this is fine and okay and in fact you’re not the only one” is immensely liberating.
The final merit I’ll mention about this book is its solid scholarship. It’s written in an engaging way that makes it hard to notice but the book actually contains quite a bit of literature review. A number of writing advice books that I’m aware of but have not read have their main points summarized here. The empirical aspect is, of course, a breath of fresh air in this genre. Both aspects are usually treated as unnecessary in the advice-giving industry, which makes them more precious.
- It might happen after all - May 14, 2023
- Another job market data point - December 17, 2022
- Our place in the fediverse - November 30, 2022