As an elementary reading specialist, Lynn Mondello Caggiano, the author of this article, often worked with students who struggled with reading and other language tasks, including writing. After working with a group of students for whom written expression was particularly difficult, Caggiano came up with the plan of having the students draw their journal entries rather than write them. The author found that with the pressure of writing gone, the joy of expression began. The children's illustrations were subsequently used as "notes," or outlines of sorts, and eventually they were tasked to include enough details so that a partner could use these drawings to write their journal for them. Students quickly learned that adding more visual details to their drawings made their writing partner's task clearer. Eventually these self-editing techniques spilled over into the students' pre-illustration, pre-writing, and writing tasks.