TL;DR

You’ve just been assigned your very first university paper. Are you unsure of how to start? Do you feel stressed about failing, or are you worried that you’ll have to pull all-nighters to get the work done? And what even is APA style? If you feel uncertain, stuck, or overwhelmed, be encouraged, because this book has the tools you need to get that assignment done. TL;DR’s quick, concise chapters will help you identify your audience, create an outline, get a handle on grammar and sentence structure, correctly quote a source, and write a strong conclusion. If you want to know what and how professors expect you to write – and why – this is the book for you.

TL;DR (too long; didn’t read): This book will show you how to write better papers, and it’s short, so you should read it!

Joel Heng Hartse is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses related to academic writing, literacy, and teaching English as an additional language. His other books include Perspectives on Teaching English at Colleges and Universities in China and Dancing about Architecture is a Reasonable Thing to Do. He is president of the Canadian Association for Studies in Discourse and Writing. He lives in Vancouver.

In down-to-earth language, Joel Heng Hartse lets students in on the real secrets to successful college-level writing. I wish I'd had this book when I started my university studies.

Boba Samuels, director, Health Sciences Writing Centre, University of Toronto:

TL;DR is the friendly insider giving you the real scoop on what to do when you write assignments. If you’re anxious about writing, this is the book for you!

Winona Young, former editor and writer at The Peak, Simon Fraser University’s official student newspaper:

TL;DR is a short and smart survival guide on writing academic papers with years of office-hours wisdom to back it up. This book is a must-have for any first-years feeling lost in their writing courses. It demystifies the rules of academic writing and will save you hours of scrolling and scrambling on search engines.