Writing Archaeology Telling Stories About the Past

Archaeology’s best known author of popular books and texts distills decades of experience in this well-received guide designed to help others wanting to broaden the audience for their work. Brian Fagan’s no nonsense approach explains how to get started writing, how to use the tools of experienced writers to make archaeology come alive, and how to get your work revised and finished. He also describes the process by which publishers decide to accept your work, and the path your publication will follow after it is accepted by a press. The new edition contains chapters on academic writing and on writing in the digital environment.

Preface, 1. Come, Let Me Tell You a Tale, 2. Articles and Columns, 3. Genesis, 4. That All-Important Book Proposal, 5. Chapters, Editors, and Agents, 6. Writing the First Draft, 7. Revision, Revision, 8. Production and Beyond, 9. Textbooks, 10. Now That You’ve Finished Your Dissertation, 11. Academic Writing, 12. And Now We Go Digital, Conclusion, Resources for Writers, References, About the Author

Brian Fagan is professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After studying archaeology at Pembroke College, Cambridge, he spent seven years doing archaeology and museum work in Central and East Africa, before coming to the United States in 1966. His original specialty was the African Iron Age, an esoteric subject if ever there was one, and he became involved in the founding of multidisciplinary African history. He came to the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1967, and simultaneously changed intellectual directions, becoming a generalist who wrote about archaeology for general audiences. Since then, he has suffered through the writing of many books, including a series of widely used texts such as In the Beginning and People of the Earth. His numerous trade books include The Rape of the Nile, The Adventure of Archaeology, The Little Ice Age, Fish on Friday, and Elixir: A Human History of Water. His other interests include bicycling, cruising under sail, kayaking, good food, and cats. He and his family are (at last count) the proud owners of two cats, a horse, several mosquito fish and seven rabbits.