In the final chapter of his book, Becker writes that "(r)eading this book will not solve all your writing problems. It will hardly solve any of them." I agree.

Starting Chapter 1 of my dissertation proposal scared the living daylights out of me. Where to start? How much do I need to research and read before I actually start writing? And then there is the never-ending "Here's just one more article/book/website I need to read/investigate before I can even start *thinking* about writing" refrain...

Becker, in a very straight-forward and humorous manner, gets you going. He lets you know the absolute fear you are feeling is perfectly normal and that the first draft is just that - a first draft. It doesn't have to be perfect; in fact it *shouldn't* be perfect. After reading this book, I simply sat down and started writing. I didn't worry about punctuation or sentence structure, I just wrote. Some of it ended up in the trash, but much of what I wrote on the first go-around was molded into some very good work.

Thanks to Howard Becker I think I might actual graduate!

Several others reviewed this book already. but I want to mention a point on this book. You could peep into what is the life of scholar throughout reading this book. this book is not merely writing guide. there are many other books on writing. but the place where this book should be put is not there, I think. the author, he himself has some name in Sociology, show you what is the life of scholar by the topic of writing. he persuasively illustrate the fear to write of not only graduate students but also professional scholars. I recommend to read Randall Collins¡¯ ¡®The Sociology of Philosophies¡¯, if you want to peep into more details on the life of scholar. I think Collins¡¯s book is better, volumetric and systematic on that matter. But the merit of this book is that you can capture what is like living as scholar in more private sight.