The podcast music, I Talk to the Wind, produced by Yung Pinoy, as part of the NC State University Libraries State of Sound collection.
Build
Many a rock band has lamented that they don’t have the fans they want, but we don’t, we don’t pick our fans if we ever have fans. ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
This week on the Paper Trail we move past the introduction of your work into a field or discipline and to beginning to build upon what has been started in the early stages. While you may still be collecting data or analyzing data, you are also likely thinking more about writing and getting your work out to a broader audience. As in all aspects of the Paper Trail, you are thinking about how to become an expert and how to curate your reputation.
This week’s podcast guest is Dr. Paul Silvia, the Lucy Spinks Excellence Professor at UNC Greensboro. Dr. Silvia research currently focuses on the science of creativity. He examines questions such as:: Are some people more creative than others? How do people come up with good ideas?, and How can researchers assess creativity? He has authored hundreds of articles and written over 10 books, including Write It Up: Practical Strategies for Writing and Publishing Journal Articles and How to Write A Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing.
Everyone’s got ideas. It’s all about writing and ideas, they come to life in writing and publishing. ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
When I sat down with Dr Silvia, evidence of his passion for writing was soon clear. From his years as an undergraduate student at University of Southern California to his PhD work at the University of Kansas, Dr. Silvia has always taken an interest in writing.
For academics, when we think about building upon initial ideas, we need to get to the point of writing. While the writing in this stage may not be, as Dr. Silvia put it, a Herculean effort, it still must be done. It may be about shorter tasks such as conference proposals, posters, book reviews or literature reviews. Still, most of the advice at this stage is the same… get the ideas out there and get it done.
Let’s just do our best and get our stuff out there and not keep it in our little claws wishing that it were perfect. ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
One problem scholars often encounter is a penchant for perfectionism. But this often hinders us from achieving our goals. We are by nature, inquisitive and curious. Sometimes this can also lead us down wormholes. At some point we need to decide that it’s time to send our proposal or paper off so that others can review it. The perfect paper is not an achievable goal as everyone’s ideals of perfection are different. So, the bottom line is to do the best you can and send it off.
… it’s not about having a cool idea or a cool paper. Who is going to do something with this? Who wants to hear it? And so are you part of this crew or are you part of this community that finds these things interesting? Are you paying attention to what they’re doing? ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
I wish someone earlier in my career had mentored me on how to think about my scholarship. Especially how to think about my scholarship in terms of longevity. A lot of my early work consisted of projects or papers that were “one-and-done.” In other words, I would complete a scholarly activity and then dream up another one. It was only when I was a bit into my career that the idea of connecting my work seemed important. One of the first things I did was to come up with one sentence that could summarize my research interests. This proved harder than expected. It was apparent that my work was not as connected as I wished. So I looked in the direction in which I wanted my scholarship to go. I was then able to write a sentence that did a daily accurate job of summing it up. I only wish I had done it sooner, as it helped to guide my work from that point on. I then narrowed my focus a bit and focused on specific conferences and professional communities. Being active in professional associations begins to give you the confidence needed to put yourself and your work in front of others and to carve out your own niche.
Everyone gets rejected all the time and the more work you’re publishing and submitting, the more you’re getting rejected. ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
And then there is Reviewer 2. We all hate rejection, some more than others. It’s also hard to accept criticism, especially by people you don’t know. But, this is the foundation upon which academia is built. When was the last time you had a proposal or paper accepted without suggested changes? For me it’s never been that way. Even as a reviewer I feel obliged to give at least one point of constructive criticism. To build upon our scholarship and become more recognized in our fields means we need to open ourselves up wider and wider to critical review. As uncomfortable as it is and as much as we dislike it.
In the summer you can go on a couples retreat with your scholarship. But just as couples don’t live in couple’s retreats, you will eventually have to get to the day in and day out with your writing. Like mid-October, how’s your relationship with your book going then? ~ Dr. Paul Silvia
Ultimately as Dr. Silvia acknowledges, being a productive scholar is about consistency. How often have we all said, I will wait until the holiday break to work on this or until the summer to work on that? How does that work out? For me, I never have the large blocks of time that I anticipate having. In the end, I did not accomplish what I had intended. I agree that the secret is consistency. Doing a bit each day, each week, each month will move us closer (even if only slightly) to our goals. So during this summer, if you haven’t already, think about how you will build on your scholarship during the academic year… in between the classes, meetings, advising, mentoring and more. If you can move your work forward and get more people to see it, you will eventually build your reputation and become an expert in your field. Because ultimately, as Dr. Sylvia acknowledged, “for an idea to really become visible and influential, other people have to work on it.”
Books about writing by Paul Silvia (available online through the NC State Libraries to members of the NC State community)
How to write a lot : a practical guide to productive academic writing e-book
Write it up : practical strategies for writing and publishing journal articles e-book
We hope this content was useful to you, and please know that we want to support you. You can leave us a comment (if you have an NC State ID), or we will be following this conversation on X and LinkedIn at #NCStatePaperTrail and you can join us there. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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