THIS COURSE INCLUDES FREE 200-PAGE EBOOK WITH ENROLLMENT

This is not a writing course in the narrow sense. It's a "how-to" for students who want to get better results from their academic writing. Going "behind the scenes," the course explains what college instructors look for and value in student writing, then tells you how to give your audience what they want. Covering everything from how to come up with an idea to get you started to building a paragraph sentence by sentence, the course walks you through all the common problem areas that plague students, giving specific guidance and examples that students can use immediately to get better results from their college writing.

The idea is to talk about academic writing in terms of what will get you what you want: a good grade. Often, when textbooks for college writing courses talk about writing, they try to lay out iron-clad rules about what “good writing” is. But, of course, there is no such thing as “good writing” that works in all circumstances. Writing a text message to a friend and writing a research paper for a sociology class are two very different situations with different audiences, purposes, and goals.

In this course, I share my insight into how college instructors tend to think about student writing—what they hope for, what they expect, and what they don’t like. I use this insight to help you provide your audience (your instructor) with what she or he wants. Doing that will make it more likely that you will get what you want: a good grade.

I call this a “rhetorical” approach because it focuses on the specific situation you, as a college writer, are in, and what you hope to achieve. Rather than giving you rules and guidelines to follow because they will make your writing “good” in some abstract sense, I give you tips focusing on the actual reality you’re in. You want to use words to get your audience to do something—respond positively to your paper. Because I know a bit about your audience, I can help you get the result you want.

The kicker is that by becoming a better writer of college papers, you’ll build skills that will improve other kinds of writing you do. Many of the same qualities your instructors look for in writing are things that other readers appreciate as well. And any writing task involves trying to reach an audience that has certain expectations. Practicing doing this in the specific case of getting a positive response from a college instructor will prepare you for doing the same thing with other audiences (such as potential employers, bosses, policymakers, etc.).

Whether you're preparing for college or a grad student on your way to a Ph.D., what this course will make your life as an academic writer easier.