Notes that writing compelling news stories about abstract topics is always challenging, especially for student journalists. Suggests showing the impact of an abstract concept, giving the story a human face, providing an understandable scale, and "drawing a picture." (RS)

Discusses three books on Zen and writing that (1) question assumptions of Western discourse and literacy practices; (2) offer ideas to help individual writers unearth their creative energy and potential; (3) advocate alternative discursive practices; (4) discuss possibilities of an embodied literacy predicated on kindness and compassion; and (5)…

Presents separate interviews with children's authors Bruce Coville and Paul Zelinsky. Suggests that Coville captures the interests and hearts of his readers by offering a different twist on the story and the world. Notes that Zelinsky, under the influence of Maurice Sendak, turned his art major into a career of making picture books. (RS)

Reviews the special issue on journal writing and identifies remaining issues: lack of empirical research, missing accounts of journals and spirituality and of cyberjournals, and lack of information on the use of journals in critically reflective practice. (SK)

Presents an email interview with playwright and novelist Adam Rapp. Discusses his first three novels, which center on themes of isolation and alienation. Addresses his writing processes and how he develops the characters in his novels and plays. (RS)

Assesses whether or not people's writing styles and ways of thinking change when new technologies are introduced. Compares material written over a 30-year period and concludes that writing styles were consistent over time, even though new technologies changed the ways the individual writers worked. (Author/LRW)

The purpose of this study was to describe what three first grade teachers and their students in a Midwestern school learned when engaged in the writing process. The teachers and their students were observed for one year while engaged in the writing process via a workshop environment. Different data sources were collected over time, i.e.,…

This article presents a study of the effects of creating a bridge between the narrative and ethnographic methods and writing processes as a means to more effectively educate teachers of culturally diverse learners. Ten teacher participants from a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) degree program in Bilingual Education at a university in the northwestern…

Drawing on socio-cultural theory, this paper focuses on children's classroom-based collaborative creative writing. The central aim of the reported research was to contribute to our understanding of young children's creativity, and describe ways in which peer collaboration can resource, stimulate and enhance classroom-based creative writing…

While writer's workshop provides a nurturing environment for many students, others struggle with the independence it gives. This may be due to the difficulty of coordinating the cognitive and self-regulatory demands of the writing process. Self-regulation refers to thoughts, feelings, and actions that individuals use to attain personal goals.…

This study investigated the relationship between components of working memory (WM) and the macrostructure (e.g., planning, writing, and revision) and microstructure (e.g., grammar, punctuation) of writing. A battery of WM and writing measures were administered to 160 high-school students. Overall, hierarchical regression analyses showed that the…

Despite the fact that social constructivism is accepted as the guiding theory in Composition, that this theory is the field's theoretical center of gravity, it does not account for, nor explain, the entire writing process. Two major challenges to social constructivism must also be considered in theoretical discussions: (1) the cognitive dimension…

Linda Flowers and John Hayes have formulated a cognitive model of the composing situation, including the recursive composing process. This model has been converted into an instructional model that is appropriate for the design of instruction in writing. The instructional model incorporates three major units: task environment, composing process,…

Discusses an essay, "Cheerio," written to support the author's argument that there is no such thing as a dull subject. Reflects on the influence of "occasion" on the writing process. (JAD)

Responds to an overly narrow view of process by applying Martin Heidegger's concept of interpretation to writing. Suggests Heidegger's "forestructure" is a useful model to give depth to problems in rhetoric and composition. (MS)