Writing Under Pressure: The Quick Writing Process

Most writing is done under pressure. An executive has to produce a three-page position paper by tomorrow at nine. A department head suddenly has to write a one-page action memo by noon. A graduate student has a twenty-page research paper due in a week. Or a sophomore has to answer four essay questions for a three-hour exam. Indeed, most students and professionals write under pressure--limited time, limited space, a supervisor or instructor to please--yet few approach the task systematically.
In Writing Under Pressure, Sanford Kaye provides a system--the Quick Writing Process (QWP)--that focuses on real-world writing tasks and shows how to produce the clearest, most honest, most powerful work possible under the constraints of time and space. A writing instructor with twenty-five year's experience teaching students and professionals in business and government, Kaye shows writers how to budget time--how much time to allot to planning, generating material, drafting and polishing to get the meaning they are after--and how to use this time efficiently. In addition, he discusses particular writing situations in which Qwp can be applied to make the most of what the writer knows. For instance, he shows how to take exams, revealing how instructors select questions and evaluate essays. He also considers writing in business and government, featuring an insightful analysis of a memo by Colonel Oliver North that highlights one of the most important issues writers in business and government face: whether to write the truth as they see it or simply what their boss wants to hear. Kaye shows how to break through the stiffling organizational codes and write memos and position papers that count.
___Most guides to writing ignore the constraints of time and space. In Writing Under Pressure, Sanford Kaye tackles these problems head on, making this volume an essential reference for students, businessmen, and government officials--for anyone faced with a difficult writing assignment that has to be done now.

About the Author:
Sanford Kaye is teacher and consultant at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also teaches in the Harvard University Extension School and is the Director of the Essential Skills Center at Curry College. He co-founded the Writing Program at MIT and was a former Director of the Sloan Fellows Executive Training Program Writing Seminars. In all, he has over twenty years experience teaching executives and professionals in business, science, and government.