Paul Silvia

Associate Professor of Psychology, 2007
Professor, 2016

Writing to Learn by William Zinsser

Although his book "On Writing Well" is more famous, William Zinsser's "Writing to Learn" is my favorite. In this book, Zinsser argues that "writing is thinking on paper": writing is a means of understanding and thus the center of the scholarly process. Few books have changed both my research and my teaching. "Writing to Learn" transformed my ideas about academic writing and inspired me to integrate writing more thoughtfully into my courses.