Computers, if programed to respond to writer-generated content with heuristic strategies, can guide the writer in the prewriting stage. Heuristics are problem solving strategies that can aid the writer in exploring a topic either through a systematic posting of relevant questions or through an unsystematic process of free-association. To date the…

Four recently developed computer programs can help students with the composition process. The first, a prewriting program, helps students prepare to write by asking them a series of questions, similar to those an instructor would ask, intended to help them think more deeply about their subject. The second writing program also contains prewriting…

Prewriting programs using computers fall into two broad categories: interactive and noninteractive. An early example of a noninteractive program is that of Ellen Nold, called "Cinnamon." Its purpose was to present the student with a series of content questions. In answering such questions, the student would be accumulating a set of data…