This longitudinal study examined the development of the semantic "strand" (the relationship between drawing and writing, differentiation of literary genres, influence of literature, coherence, and part-whole coordination) of children's writing development over a 5-year period. Subjects, eight girls and nine boys enrolled in a small, urban, nonsectarian, private school, were observed and interviewed during their normal writing periods from kindergarten through the third or fourth grade. Although the subjects' six different teachers used different writing programs (which ranged from the whole language approach to a much more directive approach), all teachers encouraged invented spelling in the first 3 years and provided frequent opportunities for writing. Results indicated that (1) children struggle with the same aspects of making meaning in the writing process in many different ways; and (2) each child's developmental pace is individual. Findings suggest that individual differences can be understood within the whole continuum of writing development, allowing for more effective instruction for individual children. (One table of data and 12 figures presenting students' writing are included; 22 references are attached.) (RS)