A composition teacher's suggestion to students to read personal compositions to others and to act on their reactions took on new meaning when the teacher read his own works to a writer's group. The teacher then began to realize the real implications of this method for writing instruction. Student reactions to their classmates' compositions can lead to measurably improved writing. But as important as these specific gains are, the real value of bringing the writer's group into the classroom is what this conveys about writing as a social act. Writing is both the loneliest and most communal of all endeavors. Teachers should allow students to discover the pleasures of reading aloud to and hearing responses from a group of committed writers. Students should have the opportunity to see that the solitude of individual effort can be balanced by the voices of others in a conversation that engages students and teachers alike. (SG)