This book offers an easy-to-follow set of writing principles. For example, use active verbs whenever possible, favour concrete language over vague abstractions, avoid long strings of prepositional phrases, employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to the meaning of a sentence and reduce your dependence on the "waste words": 'it', 'this', 'that' and 'there'. The author also shows these rules in action through examples from famous authors such as Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson. The book includes a test to help you assess your own writing and get advice on problem areas.
Illuminating a lesser-known benefit that has been experienced by several of the author's readers, a weight-loss program based on a theory about the relationship between blocked creativity and overeating demonstrates how to use journaling to examine and treat unhealthy food habits.
From the author of Stylish Academic Writing comes an essential new guide for writers aspiring to become more productive and take greater pleasure in their craft. Helen Sword interviewed one hundred academics worldwide about their writing background and practices. Relatively few were trained as writers, she found, and yet all have developed strategies to thrive in their publish-or-perish environment. So how do these successful academics write, and where do they find the “air and light and time and space,” in the words of poet Charles Bukowski, to get their writing done? What are their formative experiences, their daily routines, their habits of mind? How do they summon up the courage to take intellectual risks and the resilience to deal with rejection? Sword identifies four cornerstones that anchor any successful writing practice: Behavioral habits of discipline and persistence; Artisanal habits of craftsmanship and care; Social habits of collegiality and collaboration; and Emotional habits of positivity and pleasure. Building on this “BASE,” she illuminates the emotional complexity of the writing process and exposes the lack of writing support typically available to early-career academics. She also lays to rest the myth that academics must produce safe, conventional prose or risk professional failure. The successful writers profiled here tell stories of intellectual passions indulged, disciplinary conventions subverted, and risk-taking rewarded. Grounded in empirical research and focused on sustainable change, Air & Light & Time & Space offers a customizable blueprint for refreshing personal habits and creating a collegial environment where all writers can flourish.
With his trademark Rock 'N Roll hair and snakeskin spandex pants, plus a hot rod and a Harley, Lüc Carl fit the part as a bar manager based in New York City's gritty Lower East Side. And life was good for this Omaha, Nebraska, transplant—a talented drummer who originally moved to the big city to pursue his Rock 'N Roll dreams—until, suddenly, it wasn't. Fast forward through seven years of working long hours, bingeing on late-night Chinese food, and drinking excessively; life had found Lüc forty pounds overweight and completely out of shape. But when he turned to the "experts" for advice—reading countless fitness and weight-loss books in the process—he discovered that they all made the same claim: "You can't drink alcohol if you want to lose weight." Lüc decided to take matters into his own hands to transform his body and his life his way—a sort of "f*ck you" to all those so-called experts. Full of charismatic wit and raucous stories about his life, The Drunk Diet will inspire and challenge you to become fitter, healthier, and happier. Lüc's fitness philosophy isn't about following a list of rigid rules or traditional "do this, not that" charts, but gaining a better understanding of how the body works and discovering what you're personally willing to change about your lifestyle in order to reach your goals. For him, that meant trading in the crap he was eating for unprocessed, natural foods and embracing a newfound love for exercise, but never sacrificing his social life (or his love for cold beer). This is the story of how one chain-smoking, cheeseburger-eating, hard-partying Rock 'N Roller—a self-proclaimed "out-of-shape, bloated asshole"—grew into an avid runner and cyclist and, ultimately, a happier version of himself. He will be the first to tell you: If he could do it, so can you.
This is a softcover version of the title released in 2011; there is no new material. The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every 24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, fat, and flour—so, too, have we become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads, videos, status updates, and tweets. We're all battling a storm of distractions, buffeted with notifications and tempted by tasty tidbits of information. And just as too much junk food can lead to obesity, too much junk information can lead to cluelessness. The Information Diet shows you how to thrive in this information glut—what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be selective. In the process, author Clay Johnson explains the role information has played throughout history, and why following his prescribed diet is essential for everyone who strives to be smart, productive, and sane. In The Information Diet, you will: Discover why eminent scholars are worried about our state of attention and general intelligence Examine how today’s media—Big Info—give us exactly what we want: content that confirms our beliefs Learn to take steps to develop data literacy, attention fitness, and a healthy sense of humor Become engaged in the economics of information by learning how to reward good information providers Just like a normal, healthy food diet, The Information Diet is not about consuming less—it’s about finding a healthy balance that works for you
“We need a new theory of management. The assumptions built into business today are not accurate.”-Peter Drucker For sixteen months before his death, Elizabeth Haas Edersheim was given unprecedented access to Peter Drucker, widely regarded as the father of modern management. At Drucker's request, Edersheim, a respected management thinker in her own right, spoke with him about the development of modern business throughout his life-and how it continues to grow and change at an ever-increasing rate. The Definitive Drucker captures his visionary management concepts, applies them to the key business risks and opportunities of the coming decades, and imparts Drucker's views on current business practices, economic changes, and trends-many of which he first predicted decades ago. It also sheds light onto issues such as why so many leaders fail, the fragility of our economic systems, and the new role of the CEO. Drucker's insights are divided into five main themes that the modern organization needs to, as Drucker would say, “create tomorrow” by Connecting with customers Innovating without abandoning what works Developing lasting partnerships Creating and retaining knowledge workers Establishing disciplined decision making Drucker's penetrating questions, posed to those seeking his advice, helped business, corporate, and political leaders throughout the 20th century to see their work in a new perspective, and create phenomenal innovation. Edersheim's extensive interviews with some of these luminaries, including Warren Bennis, Ram Charan, Bill Gates, George Gallup, Jr. and A.G. Lafley offer compelling commentary on Drucker's vast influence. Delivering keen analysis and revealing insights into business, The Definitive Drucker is a celebration of this extraordinary man and his life's work, as well as a unique opportunity to learn from Drucker's final business lessons how to strategize, compete, and triumph in any market.
Elegant data and ideas deserve elegant expression, argues Helen Sword in this lively guide to academic writing. For scholars frustrated with disciplinary conventions, and for specialists who want to write for a larger audience but are unsure where to begin, here are imaginative, practical, witty pointers that show how to make articles and books a pleasure to read—and to write. Dispelling the myth that you cannot get published without writing wordy, impersonal prose, Sword shows how much journal editors and readers welcome work that avoids excessive jargon and abstraction. Sword’s analysis of more than a thousand peer-reviewed articles across a wide range of fields documents a startling gap between how academics typically describe good writing and the turgid prose they regularly produce. Stylish Academic Writing showcases a range of scholars from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences who write with vividness and panache. Individual chapters take up specific elements of style, such as titles and headings, chapter openings, and structure, and close with examples of transferable techniques that any writer can master.
An essential guide to cultivating joy in your professional and personal writing Writing should be a pleasurable challenge, not a painful chore. Writing with Pleasure empowers academic, professional, and creative writers to reframe their negative emotions about writing and reclaim their positive ones. By learning how to cast light on the shadows, you will soon find yourself bringing passion and pleasure to everything you write. Acclaimed international writing expert Helen Sword invites you to step into your “WriteSPACE”—a space of pleasurable writing that is socially balanced, physically engaged, aesthetically nourishing, creatively challenging, and emotionally uplifting. Sword weaves together cutting-edge findings in the sciences and social sciences with compelling narratives gathered from nearly six hundred faculty members and graduate students from across the disciplines and around the world. She provides research-based principles, hands-on strategies, and creative “pleasure prompts” designed to help you ramp up your productivity and enhance the personal rewards of your writing practice. Whether you’re writing a scholarly article, an administrative email, or a love letter, this book will inspire you to find delight in even the most mundane writing tasks and a richer, deeper pleasure in those you already enjoy. Exuberantly illustrated by prizewinning graphic memoirist Selina Tusitala Marsh, Writing with Pleasure is an indispensable resource for academics, students, professionals, and anyone for whom writing has come to feel like a burden rather than a joy.
What can Jane Austen teach us about health? Prepare to have your bonnet blown... From the food secrets of Pride and Prejudice to the fitness strategies of Sense and Sensibility, there’s a modern health code hidden in the world’s most popular romances. Join Bryan Kozlowski as he unlocks this “health and happiness” manifesto straight from Jane Austen’s pen, revealing why her prescriptions for achieving total body “bloom” still matter in the 21st century. Whether that’s learning how to eat like Lizzie Bennet, exercise like Emma Woodhouse, or think like Elinor Dashwood, explore how Austen’s timeless body beliefs are more relevant, refreshing, and scientifically sensible now than ever before. After all, it's still a truth universally acknowledged – Jane Austen’s heroines don’t get fat.
Can you really lose twenty pounds in a month? Will you really keep it off this time? With The Rice Diet Solution, you will! The Rice Diet Program has been helping dieters successfully lose weight since 1939. Now in book form, this world-renowned weight-loss method can help you change the way you eat forever. The Rice Diet Program in Durham, North Carolina, was one of the first medical facilities in America to use diet as the primary way to treat disease. On this high-complex-carb, low-fat, and low-sodium whole-foods diet, “Ricers” lose weight faster, more safely, and more effectively than people on any other diet. Men lose on average twenty-eight to thirty pounds and women on average nineteen to twenty pounds per month! The Rice Diet also detoxes your body, ridding it of excess water weight and toxins from processed foods and the environment. The program's results have been documented by extensive studies and confirmed by thousands of people who report amazing weight loss, as well as immediate improvement in such conditions as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Here’s how it works: The Rice Diet strictly limits salt and sodium-rich ingredients. Salt, like refined sugar, is an appetite stimulant, so when you reduce salt intake, you lose water weight and are less inclined to overeat. The Rice Diet also limits saturated fats and instead relies on carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans) as the main source of nutrition. The fiber cleanses your system and satisfies you so you feel full quickly. The Rice Diet makes it easy to limit calories; when you’re eating foods that truly satisfy your hunger, it’s a challenge to eat 1,500 calories per day! To make it easy to follow the program, The Rice Diet Solution includes hundreds of tasty, filling, easy-to-prepare recipes—some from the Rice House kitchen, others inspired by major chefs and adapted to Rice Diet standards.
