Even for gifted students, the writing process resulting in an effective composition is a complex one, often overlooked in gifted education. The process begins with expressive writing, wherein the writer explores ideas and tries to find a focus. Subsets in the writing process include inventing, gathering outside materials, drafting, and revising and editing. Assigning student journals not only gets students started on an expressive writing project, it can achieve a number of other educational objectives: (1) starting classroom discussions, (2) focusing attention on salient points, (3) summarizing germane materials, (4) reorienting classes, (5) evoking responses to films and readings, (6) generating paper topics, (7) creating a personal dialogue with students, (8) encouraging students to air frustrations, and (9) helping students relax and enjoy writing. In addition to all the creative possibilities, journals make the teacher's job easier because they need be read only every two weeks or so and seldom require more than five or ten minutes to assess. Staggering students' due dates lessens the work load even more. Teaching students to write should be viewed as a longitudinal developmental process that occurs most effectively when it is developed across the curriculum, and involves all teachers from kindergarten through grade 12. (Nine references are included.) (AEW)