Prof. Robert Boice's Rules of the Road
for Writers
1. Pace
yourself. Work in brief, regular sessions, 10-50 minutes in length, no
more than 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week. Use a timer to help yourself keep the
sessions brief, and take breaks between each.
2. Pause while
writing to check for comfort. Watch for signs of impatience and rushing,
particularly thoughts about needing to finish in any one session.
3. Stop when you
get to the end of your time limit, preferably in the middle of something (a
sentence, paragraph, argument).
4. Spend as much
time pre-writing (noticing, collecting materials, taking notes, planning,
outlining, making drafts) and rewriting as you do writing.
5. Spend as much
time socializing around writing (talking with other writers about what you are
writing) as you do writing (and spend only moderate amounts of time at either).
6. Make writing a
modest, daily priority, something done routinely but not at the expense of
living. Take regular breaks and avoid working when you are tired or in
large, undisrupted blocks of time.
7. Pay attention
to your emotions as you are writing so as not to get caught in reactive
self-talk. Watch particularly for thoughts about what you
"should," "ought," or "must" be doing as a writer
and recognize them as the irrationalities that they are.
8. Watch, above all, for
the temptation to binge out of impatience to get something done. Remind
yourself that bingeing leads to overreaction leads to depression.
9. When you share
your writing with someone, listen calmly and patiently to what he or she has to
say. Find something in their reaction to your work with which you can
honestly agree and ask for clarification about anything that they say that you
don't understand. But don't expect everyone to like what you write or to
read as carefully as you would like them to.
10. Check again
for any irrational thoughts about what your writing or the experience of
writing "should" or "ought" to be like and dispute
them. Remind yourself again of the link between strong emotions,
hypomania, fatigue, and depression.
11. If you find
yourself worried about not being busy/smart/productive enough, stop and do
something else (like sleep) until you feel rested again.
12. Start before
you feel ready. Stop before you feel done.
--Paraphrased by Rachel
Fulton Brown from Robert Boice, How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency: A Psychological Adventure
(Westport: Praeger, 1994).
Further advice from Prof. Boice
1. How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency:
A Psychological Adventure (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger,
1994).
A program of
concrete exercises developed by Boice over many
decades in seminars that he has run working with writers in overcoming their
blocks. Think of it as an investment for the long term in becoming not just a
better writer, but a more confident, productive one. From the Preface:
"This is a book about patience that can, in the short run, make cojourneyers feel impatient. This is an unusual book with
some counterintuitive ideas that can seem off-putting until they are tried.
This is a 'read' that demands a slow pace, with rereading. If you really want
to reinvent yourself as a more joyful, efficient writer, you owe yourself more
than a quick, single reading of How
Writers Journey."
2. Procrastination and Blocking: A Novel,
Practical Approach (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger,
1996).
The research
behind the recommendations in How Writers
Journey. Boice explains how blocking is actually
a form of procrastination and what the psychological mechanisms that result in
procrastination are. Procrastinators and blockers tend to put off tasks that
make them feel uncomfortable, while becoming ever more anxious, embarrassed,
and overwhelmed by what they imagine they need to do in order to succeed. They
then get to a point where they feel they can no longer wait, and rush to finish
the task, knowing that they cannot possibly do it as well as they imagined they
wanted to or should. This pattern of delay followed by rushing creates a
vicious cycle of low self-esteem and perfectionism.
3. Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to
Productive Writing (Stillwater, Oklahoma: New Forums, 1990).
Professors are
often subject to the kinds of habits and self-talk described in Procrastination and Blocking. This book
is a kind of workbook for self-diagnosis, coupled with practical advice about
how to train oneself in new work habits. Most of the advice is the same as in How Writers Journey, but is here
presented with more examples from the academic context and with some of the
data presented in Procrastination and
Blocking.
4. Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000).
Boice takes the advice that he gives about
writing and applies it to teaching, writing, and service in the academic
context. He addresses in detail the kinds of traps that faculty fall into in
managing the three different kinds of responsibilities that they have and gives
concrete advice on how to develop better work habits. He also presents data on
the studies that he has conducted on aspects of all three of these activities,
including classroom behavior, productivity, and psychological well-being.