Insert records from a form to the database. Php

I have a very long form, with approximately 30 inputs. I insert the database in the 'traditional' way but of course it is very long.

 <?php
 require('includes/conexion.php');

  $areadetrabajo= $_POST["area"];
 $nombre=$_POST["nombre"];
$apellido=$_POST["apellido"];
$fechanac=$_POST["fechadenacimiento"];

(so with a lot of fields)

And then I make the insert

 mysql_query("INSERT INTO tabla (apellido, cantidad_hijos, carrera, celular, 
 codigo_pais //todos los demas campos) values ($apellido, $hijos, $carrera, 
$celu...")

My question is whether I am correct or if there is some more efficient way to do it that I am not seeing!