Following a literature review on the subjects of the decline in student writing abilities and increased student writing apprehension, this paper offers teachers information on a basic writing program that reduces writing anxiety and improves writing skills through large doses of positive reinforcement. The second section of the paper discusses the major goals of a course for basic writers and synthesizes a teaching strategy for writing instruction based on the theories and practices of experts in the field of basic writing, including James Moffett, Mina Shaughnessy, Peter Elbow, Janet Emig, and James Britton. Subsequent sections of the paper list ten course aims for the basic writing teacher to follow (including developing a rapport with the students, avoiding academic speech and educational jargon, giving immediate and frequent positive feedback, avoiding the use of deadlines, and depending on oral exercises to stimulate ideas for writing), an outline of a teaching method to be used in basic writing courses, and copies of questionnaires that assess student writing attitudes, writing anxiety or apprehension, and writer's perception. (RL)