Thinking on Paper

Thinking on Papershows how writer''s block as well as many other writing problems are engendered by the tendency supported by traditional approaches to separate thinking from writing. Drawing on the developing field of symbol theory V.A.Howard and J.H.Barton explain why this separation is unsound and demonstrate how to improve dramatically our ability to generate and express ideas.Most books on writing assume that the sole purpose of writing is communication. These manuals seldom go beyond teaching how to avoid the problems of punctuation grammar and style that at one time or another ensnare the best of writers. Few if any of these books explore writing as a way of shaping thought.Howard and Barton two Harvard researchers in education take a radically different approach. While they agree with their predecessors that an important function of writing is the clear direct expression of thought they point out that many of our thoughts first come into beingonlywhen put to paper. By failing to recognize the link between thinking and writing we fall into the deadlock inappropriately named writer''s block.For everyone who writes this is a readable accessible manual of immense educational and practical value.