本书是为英语专业本专科学生打好英语写作基础而编写的教材。全书共分为七大部分，即用词、句子、段落、文章、实用文、论文写作、文稿格式及标点符号。本书在编写中充分考虑到中国学生的实际英语写作水平和存在的问题，本着既要打好英语写作的知识和语言基础，更要侧重培养学生的写作应用能力这一目的，提供了大量例句、例段、范文及实用写作方面的用语，便于学生模仿和实践。
本书还可供非英语专业的研究生、广大英语爱好者以及大、中学校英语教师在练习、指导写作时使用，也可作为提高英语写作的自学教材。

Part One Diction
1.1 Appropriateness
Levels of Words
Style
General Guidelines
1.2 Exactness
Denotation and Connotation
Synonymous Words and Expressions
General and Specific Words
Abstract and Concrete Words
Idioms
Figures of Speech
1.3 Dictionaries
The Use of a Dictionary
Some Good Dictionaries
Part Two Teh Sentence
2.1 Elements of a Sentence
Subject and Predicate
Modifiers
Coordination and Subordination
2.2 Types of Sentences
Declarative,Interrogative,Imperative and Exclamatory Sentences
Simple,Compornd,Complex and Compound-Complex Sentences
2.3 Effective Sentences
Unity
Coherence
Conciseness
Emphasis
Variety
2.4 Errors and Skills
Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
Sentence Fragments
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Reference
Shifts
Faulty Parallel Constructions
Mixed and Incomplete Constructions
Modifiers
Part Three The Paragraph
Part Four The Essay
Part Five Practical Writing
Part Six The Research Paper
Part Seven Punctuation and Mechanics
Key to the Exercises
Appendixes
Glossary
Bibliography