This compact, portable, no-nonsense, non-threatening reference for writers offers concise—yet thorough—coverage of all writing issues, with material organized around the stages of the writing process. It devotes as much time to the whys of writing (the emphasis on rhetoric) as the hows (grammar, spelling, punctuation handbook), since writers who know why they are doing something are more likely to slow down and master it. Examines the different but overlapping stages of writing—planning, drafting, researching, revising, and editing. Addresses rhetorical issues of audience, purpose and voice as well as the more technical issues of style, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, emphasizing the actual choices that writers make rather than arbitrary rules. For anyone who wants to improve their writing skills.