The guiding principles by which the Albion (New York) school district developed its written composition curriculum guide include two basic assumptions about the learning/teaching of composition skills and eight other assumptions that reflect salient features of the composing process. The fundamental assumptions are that writing can be taught and that everyone can learn to write. These assumptions can be realized across the curriculum if students maintain an awareness of their message, their audience, and their role in presenting the message to the audience. Students also must be familiar with the stages in the composing process (described in varying terminology and detail, but generally grouped as prewriting, writing, and revising activities), the types of writing or modes of discourse that exist (identified in various ways by Aristotle, the National Assessment, James Kinneavy, James Britton, and James Moffett), and some specific composition skills that need particular attention (sentence combining, grammar, diction, standard usage, and literary conventions). Teachers can help students learn those things by using workshops as part of their composition instruction activities, and by providing accurate writing assessment/evaluation, such as with a holistic rating scale. (RL)