Writing Conventions

Writing Conventions teaches the fundamentals of writing by inviting the writer to reflect on their own experiences as writers and to explore new strategies for a variety of academic writing projects.

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Writing Conventions by Min-Zhan Lu and Bruce Horner does not subscribe to the idea that there can be just one “right” way to write in college. Instead, this new text teaches the fundamentals of writing by asking you to reflect on your own experience as a writer and provides you with tools and strategies for approaching academic writing assignments.

Each chapter in Writing Conventions explores a core concept linked to the writing process and begins with questions such as:

• How should I begin? How do I get unstuck? (Process)
• Why can’t I see what others see in the text? (Reading)
• What form should my writing take? (Genre)
• What’s the right word? (Vocabulary)
• Who am I writing to? (Audience)
• What am I supposed to be doing?
• What’s the point? (Purpose)
• Why can’t I see the mistakes my teacher does in my writing? (Error).

Each chapter then explores the uses and limitations of conventional ways to address these questions, and also offers an array of alternative strategies that you might use in specific academic contexts. Short writing activities and extended assignments in every chapter, as well as readings from an array of different disciplines in Part 2, offer you ample opportunity to practice the new strategies and tools that you’ve learned.