Recounts a conversation with author Ken Kesey. Describes a year-long graduate writing course in which Kesey and his students collaborated on a novel. Explains how the novel was written and how characters and plot were developed. Suggests that, if available to the class, computers would have simplified the writing. (SG)

Applications to computer-assisted instruction, in which students are led through heuristic processes, are discussed. A greater impact can be expected on America's prose from word-processing software and from the use of the microcomputer as an instrument for writing rather than for the teaching of writing. (MLW)

A computer program that provides a routine assessment of a text is an important instructional aid. AT&T's system, Writer's Workbench, provides Colorado State University's business students feedback to achieve a clear writing style in letters, memos, and reports. (MLW)