An examination of writing readiness (the state of being ready to write with a reasonable chance of success) across grade levels has revealed some developmental stages involved in writing and has indicated the role of intention in writing. The analysis has begun at grade two, since younger children's writing is greatly affected by their preoccupation with control of the writing instrument. It has been observed that the writing of second grade children reflects a lack of understanding of form and structure in writing, that by third grade most of the writing samples conform to mature form and structure, and that by fourth grade (and to a lesser extent third grade) paragraphs begin to occur. The finding that second grade children express more complete thoughts in autobiographical writing than in expository writing supports the beliefs of many researchers and theorists about the positive effect on language tasks of a clear, immediate intention. Second grade writing samples written to ask questions and to share secrets further indicate that writing based on a clear purpose is more complete syntactically than other types of writing. Other findings suggest that children usually became great storytellers by fifth grade, but that writing seems to become strained and difficult again by grade seven or eight. The findings support the encouragement of writing that is close to students' interests and raise questions about the decline in imaginativeness and freshness of the writing of secondary students. (GT)