ABSTRACT
Virtually every accredited course requires that students write for assessment. Writing can help us to learn and through writing we can demonstrate what we have learnt. Academic writing has particular requirements and conventions and we can improve our academic writing over time. Over many years I have found that practice, feedback from others and my own reflection have helped to improve my writing, first as a student and then as an academic. I clearly remember my first university assignment. I received a pass for it. I had worked very hard on that first assignment and was convinced that if in the first year I could achieve only a pass for assignments, then I would fail in later years. I went to see my teacher to try to find out what I could do to improve my work. It was one of the best things that I ever did as a student. For my next assignment I received a distinction. Talking with the teacher really helped me to improve my writing. As an academic, I still ask for feedback on my writing. By the time you read this chapter, a colleague will have read it and provided me with advice on how to improve it. If you take nothing else away from this chapter, the two things that I would have you do are: 1) ask someone else to read and comment on your work and 2) think about their comments.
