Ideal for writing a short story, essay, review, or report, this guide provides beginning writers with the hands-on direction they need to improve their writing techniques and ability. Using a six-step approach to writing, this resource covers brainstorming ideas, choosing a topic, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing. The tone is casual, the advice is straightforward, and the whole approach makes writing a skill that anyone can learn. Illustrations reinforce the ideas visually and help to break up the text into bite-sized chunks. An example section with worked examples of two kinds of writing-a creative writing piece and an essay-takes readers through the six steps, so they can watch writing develop from a blank page to a finished piece. Ideal for high school students but also appropriate for writers of all ages, this book also includes tips on user-friendly grammar, a table of different types of text, and a quick night-before-the-exam summary.