Describing the variables of composition, offering researchers a methodology with which to investigate how the variables interact in specific writing strategies, and suggesting how teachers might make use of the variables of revision to help students learn successful writing strategies appropriate to a business setting, this book reports a research study designed to (1) extend the analysis of revision into a "real world" context by examining the revising practices of proposal writers in a management consulting firm; (2) describe writers' motives and intentions in generating and revising a text; and (3) achieve a balanced perspective by examining both the processes and products of composition. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the research methodology, including the seven-variable taxonomy for analyzing the composing and revising process. Chapter 3 applies this taxonomy by describing the institutional procedures, values, and constraints characteristic of the "real world" environment selected for the study: a large management-consulting firm. Chapter 4 analyzes and compares in detail the rhetorical choices made in proposals written by two management consultants, providing further insight into the methodological and theoretical bases of the study. The final chapter summarizes the findings and presents implications for research and teaching. Material regarding the variables of revision, sentence structures, and statistical analyses of composing/revising processes are appended. (JD)