"In a very real sense, the writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself."
—Alfred Kazin, American literary critic and historian
You encounter how-to instructions often in your daily life—in instruction booklets, recipes, or lists of directions, just to name a few examples. In a how-to essay, you explain how to do or make something. You break the process down into logical steps and arrange those steps in the right order for your reader to follow.
