Writing development in early schooling can reveal much about the bigger picture of writing development. As any epoch in life, it presents its own dynamics that intersect with wider social, psychological, and language processes; follows on early epochs; and leads to later accomplishments. In addition, it is particularly strategic to untangle complex relations between technical and communicative abilities, and between curriculum and personal development. But to untangle these puzzles, we need to be careful in not assuming particular solutions implied in our terms. To place the studies here and elsewhere in relation to the broader and more complex investigation of writing development, this essay interrogates each term in the thematic title of this special issue.