This paper identifies a set of writing conventions whose primary function is to monitor the development of a crucial component of narrative, the crisis of the story, but which are also customarily used by skilled writers to enhance the attention-getting power of their expository writing. The paper shows that ESL learners who have not learned to use these conventions in narrative also do not use them in essays. It is argued that there is a pedagogical advantage to learning the crisis conventions first in their narrative manifestation (where their function is transparent) and then applying them to the task of heightening the newsworthiness of the writer’s expository point.