How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings is a college writing textbook by John Ruszkiewicz and Jay Dolmage. The title names its two jobs: it guides you through writing tasks step by step, and it works as a reference you can dip into when stuck.
Say you must write an argument essay tonight. The guide part shows how to build it; the reference part answers a quick question, like Where does the thesis go?
Inside, the guide part helps you choose a genre, such as an argument essay or a report, and plan it. The reference part covers skills that cut across every genre, like research, style, or grammar. One book, opened in two ways.
Students often assume a textbook must be read in order, one chapter building on the next. This one is built differently, so it helps to name what it is not.
It is not a workbook, so you will not find graded exercises to complete, and it is not a story meant to be read straight through from beginning to end. The word reference in the title points to this: you reach for a page when a specific need arises, then put the book aside.
That reading style differs from a guide, which walks you through a task from start to finish. The reference simply answers a single question on demand, such as how to punctuate a quotation.