Intended for writing teachers and administrators of middle school through college writing programs, this guide suggests how to translate approaches to teaching composition into computer assisted instruction (CAI) software. The book encourages writing teachers to see themselves as composition specialists who can team up with specialists in computer programming and educational field-testing in order to increase their own effectiveness in the classroom. Each chapter describes one step in the process of designing CAI software. The chapters discuss the following: (1) identifying assumptions about writing and pedagogy; (2) getting started on a CAI project; (3) working with a design team; (4) making pedagogical decisions about a CAI lesson; (5) integrating response and evaluation into a CAI lesson; (6) thinking about screen display; (7) field testing a CAI lesson; and (8) spreading the word about CAI software. Worksheets for each step in the design process, suitable for copying, are included. (SRT)