States that "gathering material" is what writers do when they are not writing and that writers are their own first audience, even as they write. Advocates active reading and book collecting as rewarding for writers. (PA)

Reconsiders the modern classic "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. Discusses three issues from the book that speak to the technical writer in particular: finding the proper perspective, using metaphoric writing, and avoiding gumption traps. (SR)

Presents an interview with teacher, "theorist of writing, accomplished rhetorician, and prolific author" Gloria Anzaldua. Comments on going beyond dichotomies of all kinds--allowing for nonbinary identity, for new states of "mestiza" consciousness, and for multiple writing strategies. Addresses her prior experiences with and…

Describes the writing process of a teacher/writer in the creation of a 5-novel series portraying relations between men and women over a 175-year period in which women struggle to control their own lives. (PRA)

Presents an interview with Karen Cushman, discussing her career progress, her children's reaction to her writing, as well as her next book, "Matilda Bone." Talks about "what character she is most like" and discusses future projects. (SC)

When writing, few students have any concept that word placement affects the content of their writing. They seldom rework their papers at the sentence level in order to assure that their grammar reflects and enhances their content. Recognizing the relationship of grammar to meaning, composition researchers are reasserting the place of grammar in…

Provides an account of the processes that are involved in the production of "Crime and Delinquency." Asserts that flawed writing in criminology and criminal justice appears to be a systemic rather than an individual one. Suggests to authors or prospective authors ways in which writing can be improved. (LKS)

Studying the life of Langston Hughes in the context of how to teach freshman composition can shed light on two sometimes conflicting pedagogies, the expressivist and the social-constructionist. A discouraging period of fierce criticism, illness, depression, and financial woes coincided with Hughes' 39th birthday, which his biographer Arnold…

Explores (from the point of view of the writer, a children's author) one aspect of learning about language that is present in the picture books he writes: the relation between sound and sense. (SR)