Abstract
I would recommend the reader of this excellent book to perhaps begin at page 172, with the figure ‘Cinderella as retold by a scholar who focuses on details at the expense of the story’. This figure is a good example of the style and meta-thinking that is the DNA of this extremely serious, funny and wise book. I seldom have the pleasure of laughing out loud when reading books on this type of subject. Lynn Nygaard however uses humour when humour is needed and an easy serious focus when that approach is needed to make a point. I recommend this book not only because it is well written and useful for student, lecturer and supervisor alike but it is also pragmatic and honest.
The section headings are all as you hope for. Chapter headings such as, ‘Getting started: Developing good writing habits’ (p. 21) or ‘Breaking up the grey mass: Headings, figures and tables’ (p. 121) are full of surprising added value, whilst the chapter ‘Saying it out loud: Presenting your paper’ (p. 161) is full of encouragement aimed to help overcome writerly fears as well as presentational anxieties. There is just no getting around it: giving a presentation can be seen as part of the writing process: it forces you to put your ideas into words, and you get an immediate response from your audience. But we seldom dwell on the benefits of giving presentations because most of us associate them with either boredom (if you are the listener) or terror (if you are the speaker) – or both. (Nygaard, p. 161)
Each chapter is presented in a useful and dynamic way; an example would be the chapter concerned with ‘Saying it out loud’. Typically starting with a contextualizing introduction including highlighted inserts about ‘managing nervousness, and clear headings to guide the reader’. For example, ‘Finding your argument(s) and evidence’ (p. 166), ‘Tips’ and a thoroughly useful ‘Further reading’ section. In addition, the chapters are well illustrated and figures and tables all play their part in making this a friendly, easy-to-use and good-natured essential handbook for writers of any experience levels.
Having recommended prospective readers to begin with page 172, I would strongly recommend avoiding one particular illustration namely figure 7.1 ‘The importance of simple figures’ (p. 131). The desire to make sense of nonsense will be overpowering. The table being a fine example of the witty strands throughout this extremely useful well-written, well-presented book. Writer’s block is covered on pages 32–35.