Recently I received an email message commenting about how prolific a writer I have been. The message suggested that I share some of my “secrets.”

Some Personal History

Throughout my life I have been saddled with poor handwriting and spelling skills. At the same time, I have had the ability to translate my ideas into words. I think about some topic, I talk to myself (in non-verbal sentences) and I write what I am saying to myself. I tend to be a slow thinker, but my thinking tends to be good.

I distinguish between several types of writing. First, there is “diary-type writing.” When I was in high school I won a contest that provided winners with a month long bus trip from my home in Oregon across Canada, visits to the United Nations in New York, visits to various places in Washington DC, and then back to Oregon via a route across the United States. I found that I had little trouble writing a lengthy travel log. A page or two a day quickly grows into a lengthy document. This was easy writing.

Also, I found that I had a gift of gab for talking about things that interest me and that I know quite a bit about. My writing follows in a natural manner from this particular type of talking ability.

Second, there is the type of writing requited in English Composition and other courses I took as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon. I distinctly remember how slow and labored the writing process was in the English Composition course. It typically took me eight or nine hours to produce the weekly theme—and I had my 10^th grade sister help me on the spelling and grammar. I had similar problems with other courses that required writing. Fortunately, little writing was required in the math and science courses that I took!

Interestingly, in college I had no trouble quickly  turning out long written responses to essay questions in class tests. The only challenge was to “think” sentences that contained words that I knew how to spell!

Third, in my college courses I took copious class notes. I often rewrote these both as an aid to learning and to fill in the holes. This was an easy and relatively quick process. I was writing to myself, and that is much like talking to myself in my head.

Fourth, there are the informal notes I wrote for myself when I became a faculty member and was preparing class lectures. I also wrote a lot of handouts for my classes. This was easy and done quickly. I was writing material that was fresh in mind and that I knew a lot about.

Fifth, there is the more formal writing of books, articles, newsletters, blogs, Wiki entries, and so on. I have gotten better through lots and lots of practice. The fourth type of writing listed above led me into writing books as well as the less formal materials I write and publish on the Web. I found that after I taught a course once, I wanted to write materials that fitted with my insights into the course content. This type of writing was not much different than writing up course outlines, assignment, hand out material, and exams. I produced a number of books based on my teaching.

Some “Secrets”

An ordinary person’s mind and mouth work fast enough to speak 125 or so words a minute. Think of a person delivering a class lecture at full speed, not stopping for questions. In fifty minutes, the production is over 6,000 words. This is fifteen 400-word typed pages.

Wow! Do that just three times a week over the length of a 10-week course, and the production is about 450 pages. Of course, there are some difficulties, such as the fact that at best I only type or keyboard 40 words a minute. At that speed, I make lots of typos. Also, there is the need to reorganize, edit, rewrite, do more careful thinking, do library research, and so on.

When all is said and done, in this type of academic book writing I figure my final productivity is about five words a minute, or 300 words per hour. Moreover, this is hard, brain-draining work, so I am quiet satisfied if I accomplish four hours of this type of writing in a day. Still, that is a productivity rate of three pages a day, 15 pages in a five-day week, and 150 pages in a ten-week academic term. Many of the books that I have written are well under 150 pages in length and were produced following the type of schedule just described.

The newsletter, blog, and Wiki entries that I write are much shorter and less complex than a book. Typically I have no trouble averaging a final productivity rate of about 10 words a minute in writing short pieces. My speed depends on whether I am writing about things that I know and care about.

So…the secret is a combination of persistence and having good knowledge of what I am writing about.  However, let me share another of my secrets. For quite a few years I have done all of my writing by composing at a computer keyboard. I make use of the software’s built-in spelling and grammar checker. I no longer have to worry about examining a mentally composed sentence to see if I can spell the words. I just think a sentence or a chunk of a sentence and let my fingers do their thing—and then fix up each of the words that my software so generously underlines in red for me. I look carefully at the green underlines that might be errors in grammar.

Composing at computer keyboard has another major advantages. I can quickly access the Web, email people to ask questions, and access my previous writing. I often make use of small pieces of text that I have previously written. A little judicious cut, paste, and (perhaps) rewrite of what I have written in the past often speeds up my writing productivity.

This leads to one more of my secrets. Over the years I have written many grant proposals and reports. Some of these grant proposals and reports have contained sections that I eventually used as book chapters or articles. In addition, I eventually wrote a book about grant writing. I am a productive writer when I write about things that I know about!

Final Remarks

I have learned to write in a desktop publication mode. That is, I write using a set of word processing “styles” that layout/format my material in final publication format. This saves me time in moving from the writing to final publication. In writing books, other features in the word processor allow me to do the Index, Table of Contents, Internet links, and tables as I write. I find that these word processor features are quite helpful.