Posted 2:29 p.m. Sunday, April 16, 2023
Writing in Psychology
The Write Here, Write Now blog invites writers from the University of Wisconsin and La Crosse communities to respond to a series of questions that shed light on their writing lives. As readers of the blog will discover, learning to write is an ongoing, life-long process and all writers, from first-year students to career professionals, benefit from reflecting on the writing process and sharing that process with others.
Name and Title: Dr. Ryan McKelley, Professor of Clinical/Counseling Psychology
Department, Speciality Area, and Classes Typically Taught: Psychology Department with specializations in mental health, well-being, and men's issues. I rotate through around 12 courses, most of which include aspects of counseling, mental health, and behavior change.
Current Writing Project: I'm currently in various stages on several research projects and manuscripts. One is a study on the impact of a masculinities course on student attitudes and behaviors, another on how instructor attire (casual vs. professional) influences students' perceptions, and one testing whether a Canvas plug-in encourages students' reading for class. I plan to submit all three manuscripts this year.
1. What are you currently reading?
I always have about two or three books going at once. The academic book I'm reading is The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race by Lieberman and Long. I teach psychopharmacology, so this is a fascinating book about dopamine. When I need to laugh out loud for a few minutes, I pick up David Sedaris's Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 since I can read it in small chunks. Lastly, I read almost every night to our kids (not the 11th grader anymore...duh), and I'm about to finish up the first book of the Divergent series with our younger daughter.
2. What type(s) of writing do you regularly engage in?
I *should* answer academic manuscripts, but most of my writing now is content that I deliver to public audiences and students. I periodically write research grant proposals, and I do try to write one publication a year when the stars align. As a clinician, I also write case notes summarizing work with clients.
3. When/where/how do you write? What are your “writing necessities”?
This might sound weird, but I do all of my most focused writing on airplanes and when my spouse offers to drive on long trips so I can work in the passenger seat. I feel like I'm in this little bubble where the world isn't able to get my attention. I have come to accept myself as a binge writer. I know some people can write a little every day, but I work best in larger chunks of time where I can get into flow. All of my writing is done on a laptop, so I just need a charging cable or enough battery. Back in January I worked 14 hours straight on a flight back from Australia and got a LOT of writing done (most of it was a travel journal). Other necessities are adequate sleep, hydration, and about 100mg of caffeine in the tank.
4. What's the best writing advice you've received?
I had a history professor in undergrad who told us to "Be brilliant, but brief" in our papers. You failed if your paper was over two pages of VERY clear and coherent prose. A few classmates tried to call his bluff and regretted it. That has helped me communicate better to general audiences, which is something that scientists don't always do well. I also read about a study done by consulting firm Deloitte & Touche back in the late 1990s that found that seven revisions equals a 1000% increase in writing quality. I know nothing about how they got that, but the idea stuck. Revise, revise, revise until it is good enough.
5. How does your discipline, background, and/or life experiences affect your writing style?
I learned early on that you can't be a good writer unless you read, so reading has always been important to me. It helps learn others' voices and how to establish my own. A lot of my writing has been learning and unlearning based upon the context. I remember writing a bunch of fluff in college to reach page requirements, and quickly unlearning that in my first career as a management consultant. The business world loves bulleted lists. Then I had to re-learn writing very long scientific articles in graduate school, but back to translating concepts in a style more accessible to students when I starting teaching. I'm at a point now in my life where I don't enjoy writing for an academic audience that much, and would rather try to write in a way that makes the science of psychology more accessible and applicable to more people.
6. What is your best tip for getting started and/or for revision? How do you avoid writer’s block?
I still have a poem I wrote in high school about writer's block that is based in the style of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." I was stuck sitting there not knowing what to write for a class, and imagined this writer's block rapping at my chamber door. So when I feel blocked, I just welcome it, let go of the need to write, and then it usually finds its way to me.
7. What do you think students need to know about academic writing?
You are already writing a LOT in your life in total volume (think instant messaging and socials), so you have the basics down. Academic writing is just learning different ways to tell stories, persuade, argue ideas, etc.--all of the things we do when interacting with people already. Just get started, walk away from it, return and revise, walk away, repeat until it's good enough. Show to a trusted friend and ask for areas that are not clear. You will learn to write in so many different ways for different audiences in college, and will continue that in the world of work. It will NEVER be perfect, so accept good enough.
8. How have your perceptions of writing changed or grown as you entered the field of teaching?
I think academia often over-complicates writing in a way that only few in each discipline can fully comprehend. I've never really understood the value in that. I think teaching helps us unlearn that part of the culture and requires that we continue to develop as writers because our audience changes over time. Supporting students in their writing has helped me take mine less seriously.