About the Book

The New York Times bestselling author of the beloved classic How to Read Literature Like a Professor teaches you how to write everything from a report for your community association to a meaningful memoir in this masterful and engaging guide.

Combing anecdotes and hard-won lessons from decades of teaching and writing—and invoking everyone from Hemingway to your third-grade teacher—retired professor Thomas C. Foster guides you through the basics of writing. With How to Write Like a Writer you’ll learn how to organize your thoughts, construct first drafts, and (not incidentally) keep you in your chair so that inspiration can come to visit.

With warmth and wit, Foster shows you how to get into (and over) your best self, how to find your voice, and how to know when, if ever, a piece of work is done.

Packed with enlightening anecdotes, highlighted with lists and bullet points, this invaluable guide reveals how writers work their magic, and reminds us that we all—for better or worse, whether we mean to or not—are known by what we put on paper or screen, both our thoughts and our words.

Critical Praise

“Foster […] offers in this friendly guide practical advice on developing a voice and writing ‘like you mean it.’”  — Publishers Weekly

“Foster brings his experience as a teacher and writer to this genial guide to the writing process.”  — Kirkus Reviews

"A writing guide that digs below thesis, punctuation, paragraphs, and sentence structure to offer a philosophical view of the art of written communication." — New York Journal of Books

“Thomas C. Foster must have been the sort of memorable college professor whose classes filled up fast with long-waiting lists. Fortunately, he has written this bright, positive and helpful work . . . . This is truly an inspired writing manual for everyman. Writing can be a struggle but this slender volume can offer fine assistance in making it better.” — BookTrib

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780063139428
• ISBN 10: 0063139421
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 09/06/2022
• Pages: 320
• List Price: $14.99
• BISAC1 : EDUCATION / Reference
• BISAC2 : LITERARY CRITICISM / Books & Reading
• BISAC3 : LITERARY CRITICISM / Reference