A Guide to Academic Writing: How to Tame Your Essay presents a holistic approach to writing in academia. To master academic writing, it is not enough to learn specific rules and conventions. Writers need to break down the process of writing and see how its various components, from researching to drafting, influence the final outcome. They must also understand how their emotions, social interactions, behavioural patterns, and attitudes to their craft impact their writing. A Guide to Academic Writing offers this training.

At the heart of the book is a four-week course with each week dedicated to a specific aspect of the writer’s training, and each day dedicated to one of the five components of the writing process. The course is supplemented by additional materials called ‘weekend readings’, featuring personal stories about writing challenges, reflections on conversations with students, and discussions of writing samples.

The book aims to empower students throughout their writing journey, offering a solid framework for improving their approach to writing in addition to warm advice and stories born of many years of tutoring, teaching, and writing.