Philip Vassallo, Ed.D.
Writing Management, Design, Instruction, and Assessment

Products

How to Write Fast Under Pressure

 

When the clock is ticking and the page is blank, this book provides fast answers for those writing under pressure.


Anyone who regularly deals with work-related writing deadlines knows the kind of paralysis that can take over when there's too much to accomplish and not enough time to compose a clear sentence. This book contains an easy, efficient, and confidence-building process for keeping up and being productive, even under tight time constraints and concentration-sapping obstacles. The book contains an immediately usable approach based on the mnemonic DASH, standing for the four critical components most needed for writers working under pressure:

  • Direction—hit the ground running with a sense of urgency and purpose
  • Acceleration—write on the fly with a 'beat-the-clock' mindset and an attitude that prizes volume over perfection
  • Strength—hold fast in the midst of chaos by employing a sensible quality controlling system and creating an environment conducive to writing
  • Health—assume a proactive stance by prioritizing work and preventing emergencies to minimize future pressures

 

Filled with helpful tools and time-saving techniques, this indispensable guide reveals how anyone can break through writer's block and write faster and better.

The Art of E-Mail Writing

Write e-mails: faster ... purposefully ... thoroughly ... clearly ... concisely ... correctly. Manage your e-system: filing ... attaching ... copying ... initiating ... responding ... forwarding.

It's all here in The Art of E-mail Writing: a powerful, workable, and reliable method for:

  1. jump-starting the writing process without cluttering your mind
  2. getting to the point without missing a beat
  3. laying out your ideas without overloading your readers
  4. keeping a fresh style without breaking the rules

 

The book is available by clicking here: The Art of E-Mail Writing and at Amazon.com.

 

The Art of On-the-Job Writing

 
The Art of On-the-Job Writing is an ideal book for corporate writers new to the business world just learning the differences between school- and work-related writing, or for seasoned professionals looking to revisit key writing issues and freshen their style.

Author Philip Vassallo has written The Art of On-the-Job Writing after more than 20 years teaching thousands of business and technical writers across the country in corporate, academic, and government environments. He discusses critical issues in business and technical writing with a focus on composing high-quality documents quickly. The Art fo On-the-Job Wriitng offers practical, memorable aids to guide writers through the challenging process of creating reader-tailored, high-impact, and results-focused memos, letters, e-mail, reports, and proposals.

The book is available by clicking here: The Art of On-the-Job Writing and at Amazon.com.

Person to Person: Essays from Two Centuries

 

In Person to Person: Essays from Two Centuries, educator, poet, and playwright Philip Vassallo writes 26 essays on his abiding passions: theater, communication, society, literature, film, education, sports--often finding unique links between them. This collection spans the last decade of the twentieth and first decade of the twenty-first centuries, as the author worked as a reporter, columnist, professor, and artist for diverse organizations in the New York metropolitan area. In this volume, he writes on an impressive range of issues, including race relations, eating disorders, childcare, criminal law, school choice, the environment, cinema, playwriting, and literary biography. His line of thought varies as broadly as his interests and his conclusions can be surprising.

 

This book is available in print and Kindle formats.
The Inwardness of the Outward Gaze: Learning and Teaching through Philosophy

Does learning about philosophy help teachers and writers better understand their work? Author Philip Vassallo thinks so. The Inwardness of the Outward Gaze emerges from Vassallo's experiences as a college writing professor, corporate consultant, doctoral student, and freelance writer. Vassallo begins with a prologue describing how writing teachers and writers may integrate their reading and living experiences to realize their inner voice. The first major section, "Foundations," is a collection of 11 essays discussing great ideas from Western educational philosophy. It will provide new writers and writing teachers with a basis from which they may ground their learning and teaching strategies. The middle section, "Considerations," offers two essays to provide an assessment of the writing teaching profession. The final section, "Applications," offers three practical approaches for the writing teacher: in integrating the personal and professional, in dealing with administrators, and in teaching students. Students and teachers of writing, novice and accomplished writers, and lovers of learning will find something of their own ideas in Vassallo's--and they'll be sure to discover an idea or two along the way.

The book is available by clicking here: The Inwardness of the Outward Gaze

Questions Asked of Dying Dreams

Questions Asked of Dying Dreams adds up to a rousing maiden voyage for new playwright Vassallo and a challenging and enjoyable evening of theater. … Cynical, sarcastic, funny, or angry, all four playlets are insightful and engaging—no mean feat—and each takes a hard look at life, their characters always questioning its meaning.” — Bob Coyne, Asbury Park Press 

Questions Asked of Dying Dreams is the umbrella title for four related one-acts: "What Do You Charge for a Cure?" (35 minutes), about a director of a clinical program for developmentally disabled individuals who confronts her professional and personal doubts as she deals with one of her clients and a new intake; "How Silent Do I Sound?" (15 minutes), about a bigoted, aging moving man who unexpectedly meets his new coworker and his own destiny; "Do I Bleed in the Dark" (25 minutes), about a homeless ex-boxer who has a final chance to make something meaningful of his life in his dying moments; and "Isn't This the Way You Wanted Me?" (25 minutes), about an embittered, frustrated wife who reassesses her marriage and life in light of her husband's remarkable transformation.