Literature instructors become frustrated as they read poorly written student essays. The problem is partly the students' lack of experience: they have not read a lot or written a lot. Literature classes can be more interesting and effective if teachers coordinate two kinds of emphases: allowing for discovery and moving toward productivity. In working to improve student writing, it is important to recognize points of convergence between reader response and writing across the curriculum. Both of these points of convergence help students to become familiar with somebody else's language and world and to fashion their own voices and roles within that language and world. Teachers should keep certain principles in mind as they develop assignments to improve student writing: (1) respect the process; (2) nourish the participants; (3) aim for a variety of products; and (4) reflect on product, process, and participants. Students and teachers can learn together about literature, about life, and about the mutual interplay of literature and life. (Thirteen references are listed.) (SG)