For Students

As college writing teachers, we've met many students who believe they're bad writers. Students of all kinds, from all kinds of majors, find writing frustrating. If that's where you are, you're not alone. But we don't believe in bad writers--only in writers who don't yet have the right tools . 

Maybe you find writing difficult because you've been taught to approach writing the way English majors do. But plenty of people don't think in words: maybe you think in numbers, or equations, or storyboards. All these modes of thinking and working can help you write, if you approach writing with the right tools.

That's where this book comes in: Thinking on the Page gives you methods that will let you get your ideas on the page clearly and effectively. 

Writing is hard. Here's how Thinking on the Page can help:

Writers get stuck in lots of places in the writing process, for lots of different reasons. At every stage, Thinking on the Page shows you how to keep moving ahead. 

• Need an effective writing process? We show you how to build one, step by step. 
• Feel like you're just jumping through hoops because you don't have anything to say about the text you're supposed to write about? We show you how to "read to write," so you find something that interests you in the text. 
• Not sure what an essay's supposed to do or be? We explain it, using metaphors and examples that make sense. 
• Got good ideas but can't get them on the page? We've got methods that help you get your best material out of your head and onto the page.
• No idea how to start? We show you how to ensure that you're never staring at a blank screen.
• Start out okay, but get stuck halfway through? Thinking on the Page has tools and techniques to help you move forward.
• Got lots of ideas, but can't quite organize them? We've got methods that offer structure.  
• Think everything you're saying is obvious? We give you ways to test your ideas and take them further.

• Not sure if you're going in the right direction? Ready to give up? We show you how to review, assess, and revise your work.

Want a little more information?  

Take a closer look at a sample of Thinking on the Page through googlebooks!

Check out our bonus chapter on writing application essays, grant applications and job letters!

We don't believe there are any bad writers--just writers who haven't yet found the tools and methods that work for them. 

Get the tools you need to write well!