Using ethnographic research techniques, a study examined the nature of the process whereby a three-member collaborative writing group responded to literature and to each other through a local area network (LAN) and also generated a group composition. The three subjects--of varied educational backgrounds--discussed questions associated with a novel over the LAN in a recursive style, providing a positive social context for collaboration in a teacher-structured context. In a student-structured context, the emphasis was on the product (a collaborative essay) rather than on the process (analyzing text). The context and process of the collaboration changed because the focus of the task changed. The LAN was only used at the end to "hook" the separately written pieces of the essay together and not to negotiate the separate tasks. Findings suggest possibilities for visualizing a variety of ways in which the collaborative writing process might occur; may help instructors see the advantages of collaborative writing in a course; and suggest a way to study collaborative groups to find out what they actually do. (Four figures are included.) (RS)