How not to suck at research productivityIf you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and

write a lot -- Stephen King

Graduate school is about mastering a topic and then being able to make a

contribution to this topic by adding original thought, and then put it into clear

writing. So you must become an expert. Yes, I am talking to you, a future expert.

Being an expert means that you must have read every relevant journal article

and book chapter on the topic. Knowing other related topics also helps. The

conservative estimate is that for every paper you write, you must have read 75

papers or book chapters. Read, read, and read some more. And do not forget to

take organized notes, so you do not forget what you read.             

In classes, you get a survey of information. Rarely does any class, even the most

advanced, get truly deep into any topic. If you treat graduate school as a

collection of classes, then you will never be a master of the material. And you

will not be worthy of receiving a masters degree and certainly not a doctorate

degree. In this lab and in graduate school in general you must drill deeply. You

need to have a survey knolwedge of all areas and truly deep knowledge and

mastery in a few areas. Both breadth and depth of knowledge are required to be

a good school psychologist. You receive breadth of knowledge from classes and

clinical work. You receive depth of knowledge through writing and your work in

this lab.

The more mastery you have of a topic, then more likely you are to make a

creative contribution. Remember that iconoclastic painters such as Picasso,

Pollock, Matisse, Monet, and Van Gogh did not develop their distinctive styles on

their own. They were all classically trained artists who developed mastery of

multiple techniques, color patterns, and brushing/knife styles. Once they

developed mastery of a host of techniques and styles, only then were able to

develop their own unique creative style.

The biggest trap in all of academics is that you know all of the information, have

excellent writing skills, have wonderful methodology, sparkling conclusions, but

the article you have produced is little more than professionally prepared bullshit.

The vast majority of published papers fall into this category. Just because a

paper is published, does not mean it is valuable. You can slice bologna with a

scalpel and BS with laser, but it is still bologna and BS. You can only say

something valuable if you are an expert. Most bologna and BS papers are written

by very smart people who engaged in laziness, poor scholarship, and pedestrian

thinking. "Rise above by digging deep" -- Shaun T.

How do you become a prolific scholar, knowledgeable school psychologist, and

excellent lab member? Follow these steps:

1. Budget your time so that 1-3 hours per day are carved out of your schedule

to develop your expertise.

2. Talk it out. Argue, debate, and discuss ideas with other experts (e.g., fellow

labbies).

3. Read a lot every day (yes, that is every day). You need to read 100 pages per

day. Probably 50-75 of those pages will be assigned readings in class. The

remainder of the pages are papers designed to build expertise.

4. You need to write 500 original words per day. Most of us write a total of

2,500 words per day if you include assignments, e-mails, reports, logs,

business, and other activities. But make sure that you write 500 words per

day of original scholarly thought. Usually these 500 words are for a

manuscript, presentation proposal, grant proposal, thesis, REB proposals, or

something like this. “Write a lot every day. Quantity produces quality. If you

only write a few things you’re doomed.” -- Ray Bradbury 

Common problems

1.      I do not have time. This is one of the few things that you will say that is

guaranteed to upset me. You always have time for the most important thing.

Your time frees up when you do not eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. When you

say that you do not have time, you are telling me that other things are more

important. And often, other things are more important. But you need to prioritize

carefully. If you do not have time to become an expert, then you do not have time

to be a member of this lab or in graduate school.  

2.      I don’t know how to start.

a.    Start with an outline. Write out each heading

b.    Remember the 5/5/5 default. That is, write five sections (an intro, three

supporting sections, and a conclusion), each section is made up of five

paragraphs (an intro, three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion), and each

paragraph is made up of five sentences (a topic sentence, three supporting

sentences, and a closing sentence).

c.    Write all of the topic sentences.

d.    Write all of the closing sentences.

e.     Fill in the supporting sentences

f.     Writer’s block is simply another word for laziness – Elmore Leonard

3.      I write too slowly. Never ever ever(!) edit while you write. There are

many different and good styles and approaches, but this never works! “Write

drunk. Edit sober.” -- Ernest Hemmingway.

a.      Spend 33% of your time getting it all out on paper and 67% of the time

editing. But get the first draft out. Write with abandon and get it all out on paper

—then edit. Don’t worry about running out of ideas. The well will refill for the

next day—if you have mastered the topic, I promise this will happen.

b.      How I do it: I dictate for two hours per day using speech recognition

software (Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5). That is about 1,600 to 2,000 words.

Then I spend about three hours editing what I just wrote. Remember that I can

only write that many words because I have read so much that the ideas come

quickly.

4.      Writing and the judgment of my writing scares me. Join the club. And

then get over it. Your writing will only get better with editing and supervised

revision. Remember it is your writing, it is not you. It is rarely personal. Steve’s

rule: if your paper has tons of corrections on it from me, then that is a good

thing. That means that your paper is so good, that it is worth my time and effort

to make it better. The worst is when you have a lot of corrections on the first 2-3

pages and then no more corrections. Your writing did not get better—either I got

bored with your writing or your paper is not worth my time of doing a revision.   

Writing is never easy and often painful. But we will get through the process

together. “It looks like you can write a minimalist piece without much bleeding.

And you can. But not a good one.” – David Foster Wallace.

Become a master, then create something every day. Do this and you will not suck

at writing and research productivity.