Focusing on the process by which intentions get expressed in written form, this article presents a theory of communicative competence based on the development of the "part-whole" thinking process. Specific topics discussed in the article are: speech act theory; speech act theory and theories stressing the importance of subject cognition; genetic epistemology, creativity, and the writing process; and a theory of creativity and the writing process. Proposals are presented for a research program designed to assess the effects of giving instruction as to the purpose for writing and to investigate how the means to writing are brought into "focal" or "subsidiary" awareness to more effectively realize the writer's intentions. (FL)