by Rob Colter
House of Anansi Press, 2009
ISBN 978-0-88784-831-5
$12.95, 224 pp, index
www.anansi.ca
This paperback handbook was designed to help people write more effectively in the workplace. If your job is to prepare your students for the writing that will be required in their jobs in the future, then this handbook will help you design relevant lessons. The contents have been organized around ten tips under three headings: Think Before You Write (1. Know Your Purpose 2. Know Your Audience 3. Select Your Format 4. Outline Your Message); Write According to Plan (5. Support Your Points 6. Write Strong Sentences 7. Connect Your Points 8. Write Clearly and Efficiently); and Apply Polish (9. Revise for Impact 10. Write with Speed, Confidence, and Impact). These tips are similar to those used in many school writing programs, but in this handbook, the focus is on writing the kinds of communications that employees are asked for every day, and so should help you teach important skills that will help your students succeed in the workplace. Rob Colter is the author of Grammar to Go. He has taught writing courses and workshops for more than 25 years, and presently teaches at Seneca College in Toronto.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s September 2009 issue.