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Writing Books for a General Audience: Motivations, Goals, and Challenges

Writing Books for a General Audience: Motivations, Goals, and Challenges San Diego State University larry Ford Why WrIte books for a general audience rather than trying to appeal to a much narrower group of specialists already predisposed to seek out the latest in theoretical insights or practical applications? For me, there are several answers to this question but the primary one is that I have only one way of writing (and speaking), and that tends toward a fairly casual and accessible style with a minimum of big words. I don't know if I could write a very esoteric, theoretical work even if I wanted to. Thus it is easy for me to pick a style--and therefore an audience--as I begin a writing project. Once I make the decision to write a book at all, I don't have much of a choice about the general tone or style. Having said that, I also firmly believe that there is a need for at least some academic books to be written in a reasonably accessible manner. I want to interest general readers and undergraduate students in topics that might otherwise appear to be either very complicated and technical or purposefully obfuscated in order to weed out all but the most committed http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers University of Hawai'I Press

Writing Books for a General Audience: Motivations, Goals, and Challenges

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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1551-3211
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Abstract

San Diego State University larry Ford Why WrIte books for a general audience rather than trying to appeal to a much narrower group of specialists already predisposed to seek out the latest in theoretical insights or practical applications? For me, there are several answers to this question but the primary one is that I have only one way of writing (and speaking), and that tends toward a fairly casual and accessible style with a minimum of big words. I don't know if I could write a very esoteric, theoretical work even if I wanted to. Thus it is easy for me to pick a style--and therefore an audience--as I begin a writing project. Once I make the decision to write a book at all, I don't have much of a choice about the general tone or style. Having said that, I also firmly believe that there is a need for at least some academic books to be written in a reasonably accessible manner. I want to interest general readers and undergraduate students in topics that might otherwise appear to be either very complicated and technical or purposefully obfuscated in order to weed out all but the most committed

Journal

Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers – University of Hawai'I Press

Published: Jul 5, 2006

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