The primary role of mathematics education is to assist students in acquiring an understanding of the principles of mathematics and their application to the real world, and to communicate such understandings in a manner which is acceptable to the community in general and the mathematical community in particular. The use of writing in mathematics has been proposed as one way of attaining these goals. This study reviews the current literature on problem solving, teaching mathematics for understanding and writing in mathematics. Genre writing is being used extensively in some secondary school writing subjects and the literature relating to the nature and role of genre writing is examined. A problem solving genre which is intended to provide students with support during the process of problem solving is then proposed. The proposed problem solving genre is trialled with a class of 28 Year 8 mathematics students and their implementation of the genre in solving two problems is examined in terms of the genre's potential for assisting students in the process of problem solving and also of its potential for assisting students in producing a written solution to a problem which adequately communicates their mathematical processes and solution.