The writing process depends heavily on linguistic, psycho-perceptual, and psycho-motor abilities. If a student has a significant weakness in one of these major trait clusters, then thinking will suffer and he or she may experience great difficulty in writing. The process of writing can be broken down into four main phases, which can be labeled according to their main purpose: executive, secretarial, editorial, and manuscript production. Strategies for thinking and organizing in the executive phase include generating or brainstorming as many ideas as possible, then discarding irrelevant ideas with the help of small discussion groups. These ideas can then be fleshed out with structured but simple sentences. When functioning as a secretary, the writer must simply get the sentence down on paper with minimal concern for neatness or spelling. Once the draft is written the writer must revise the content, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. This is an ideal time to teach punctuation. After the draft has been revised, it is ready for production--copying in good handwriting, typing, or entering into electronic memory for printing. This model of the writing process can be used to help pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of a particular writer, and allow the student to approach writing in a step-by step fashion that will not overburden the student's limited conscious attention. (Models illustrating the psycho-mechanics of writing, an executive planning sheet, and an executive composition sheet are included.) (HTH)