A study investigated whether the narrative writing task is more compatible with the structure of conscious thought than are other writing tasks. If so, composing a narrative text should demand less cognitive effort, occur more fluently, and yield a more coherent document than composing persuasive or descriptive texts. Sixteen college students were assigned randomly to each of 3 composition types: narrative, descriptive, or persuasive. Two texts were composed by each participant, one in longhand and one on a word processor. The students wrote on the subjects of test-taking and drinking. Analyses of secondary task reaction times and subjective ratings confirmed that narrative writing is least effortful. An analysis of coherence ties and words produced per minute indicated that persuasive writing exhibits the least cohesion and fluency. The study is continuing, and will examine reading effort, comprehension level, and recall level for the texts that have already been written. (Thirteen figures are included.) (PRA)