ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss three broad approaches to researching and teaching writing, focusing in turn on theories that are mainly concerned with texts, with writers and with readers. I admit that this classification takes certain liberties, but I imply no rigid divisions, and in fact the approaches are only coherent to the extent that they respond to and critique each other. By focusing on writing in this way, however, I hope to highlight something of what we know about writing and what each offers to our understanding of this complex area.
