Minutes a day n e w y o r k

H o w   t o   U s e  T h i s   B o o k
There are 20 lessons in this book, each of which should take you about 20 minutes to complete. If you read five
chapters a week and complete the practice exercises carefully, you should become a more powerful and effective
essay writer in one month.
Although each lesson is designed to be an effective skill builder on its own, it is important that you proceed
through the book in order, from Lesson 1 through Lesson 20. The material in Section 2 references and builds on
what you’ll learn in Section 1, as Sections 3 and 4 reference and build on Sections 1 and 2. Writing is a process—
a series of skills, strategies, and approaches that writers use to create effective essays. In reality, this process isn’t
as linear this book presents. You might prefer to brainstorm first, and then write a thesis statement—and that’s
fine. However, once you understand the writing process, you can adapt it to your unique working style and to each
specific writing situation you encounter.
Introduction
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The first section of the book, Planning the Essay, covers the basic prewriting steps that are essential to effec-
tive writing. Drafting the Essay, Section 2, shows you how to take your ideas and formulate a solid working draft.
In the third section, Revising, Editing, and Proofreading the Essay, you’ll learn how to shape your draft into a clear,
effective essay. Taking an Essay Exam, the fourth section, provides strategies for writing under the pressure of a
ticking clock, whether for an in-class exam or a test such as the ACT or SAT.
Each lesson includes several practice exercises that allow you to work on the skills presented in that lesson.
The exercises aren’t simply matching or multiple-choice questions. Instead, you’ll practice what you’ve learned by
doing your own writing. These practice exercises are central to your success with this book. No matter now many
examples you see, you really won’t benefit fully from the lessons unless you complete the exercises. Remember to
keep your practice answers as you work through the book—some lessons will ask you to further develop ideas gen-
erated in earlier practice exercises.
To help you stay on track, use the sample answers and explanations for the practice exercises at the back of
the book. Check them at the end of each lesson, reading the explanations carefully as you review your response
to the exercise. Keep in mind that there is no single correct answer to most exercises. What you’ll find instead are
suggested answers that contain all the elements called for in the exercise.
You’ll also find practical skill-building ideas at the end of each lesson—simple thinking or writing tasks you
can do to sharpen the skills you learned in that lesson. Some of these exercises ask you to read an essay and exam-
ine it for a specific element or detail. You can find essays in many places, such as an English or composition class
textbook, or on the Internet. If you have trouble finding appropriate writing, check the list of suggested reading
in the Additional Resources section at the end of the book.
To gauge your progress, we’ll begin with a writing pretest. You should take the test before you start Lesson
1. Then, after you’ve finished Lesson 20, take the posttest. The tests are different but comparable, so you’ll be able
to see just how much your understanding of the writing process and your writing skills have improved.