What is Writing?

Writing. Something everyone dreads from the moment their first teacher assigns them an essay they’d rather not write. What is writing? Google says it is “the activity or skill of making coherent words on paper and composing text” but this definition is vague and does not encapsulate all of what writing is and can be. Correct nonetheless, but writing is simply much more than that. Writing itself spans the world from academia to using phones to text people. It can be time consuming and quick all at once. It wears many masks and has just as many uses.

Common misconceptions about writing include that “simple writing is dumb” and “writing has to follow a roadmap”. Simple writing gets the point across without readers having to go get a dictionary, and being able to explain things simply shows complete understanding of the subject that is being explained. Sometimes, it is better to use simple over complex to get the point across. To illustrate, it is easier to just write “the sun is shining” than “the bright yellow orb floating in space blinded anyone who gazed upon it during the cloudless day”. Both statements drive a point home, however “the sun is shining” simply gets straight to the point. It is easy to think that good writing means complex writing, especially when writing essays and there is a required word count or a page goal trying to be met.

Another misconception is that writing must follow a roadmap. There are no rules for what writing should be. Writing is a sandbox for ideas and can be shaped into anything and everything.

So, what is writing? Well, writing can be used for anything. To start, writing is used as a tool for therapy. Journaling thoughts is a therapeutic process meant to have people thinking and explaining their thoughts coherently on a piece of paper. Poetry is another example of this; it is often used to help convey emotion and is a good outlet for therapeutic purposes. It is a way of communication when verbal communication is not possible. Letters, back before the internet became a thing, were used (and still are, though a lot less often) to have conversations over long distances. Often containing longer paragraphs and act as mini-essays, since quick communication was not yet possible.

Writing is also entertainment. There are thousands of books out there ranging from a plethora of genres, romance to sci-fi to dystopian, housed in public and private libraries. Books are real-world portals that allow readers to fully immerse themselves into whatever reality they choose. Like dreaming with their eyes wide open, the beginning of entertainment, basically written down movies. Speaking of movies, playscripts and scripts are another form of entertainment brought to a stage or the big screen. Without writing, movies and plays would not exist. Masterpieces like the Titanic or Avengers: End Game would not exist. People have to plan out and write the events and plots of plays and movies to get them to be as entertaining as they are. This also includes any films or videos one might find on the internet. If there is high quality production and execution in a video that requires words, those things have been written.

Another one of its uses is writing down and documenting historic and cultural events. All the history books had to be written down to be read. Pieces of writing throughout history, like Anne Frank’s diary, are primary sources used to answer the questions people have had about the past. Things like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (to name just a few), paint a clear picture of what has happened in the past and all of those documents had to be written. Not just history, but culture as well. Evidence about what people have believed for centuries (like the Torah and the Bible) has been recorded thoroughly ever since the Rosetta Stone.

Without writing, recipes, blueprints, and inventions would not be as well known as they are today. Math would not be as advanced (writing equations down) if meticulous records were not kept, like how to solve things, would society really be as far advanced as it is today? If there was no written down documentation of the discoveries during the industrial revolution, would it have been as widespread as it was when it happened if writing was not a thing? If not for newspapers, letters, and whatever form of letting the public know, would it have just been a secret? Of course, this is bending the definition of writing in general, because after all math is all numbers and no words. That is, if word problems and the art of teaching math are not in play. Math itself is a concept; an idea. It is a language on its own, with different symbols meaning different things and with correct understanding will lead to a solution. People can even turn solving equations into communication, like the math problem 9x-7i > 3(3x-7u) that eventually simplifies to i < 3u which in internet tongue, means “I love you”.

Which brings the internet into the question. Everything read on the internet involves writing. Search engines, results, articles, ebooks, online shops, wikihow, online classes, account information, online banking, internet surfing–all involve typing words to get the correct result to pop up. Looking for Taylor Swift tickets? Typing “Era’s Tour cheapest tickets” is writing. Writing does not have to be lengthy to be considered writing.

The main thing about anything in life is how things are looked at. These are often referred to as “paradigms”. If someone views writing as a chore, that is all it is going to be to them. They would not see writing for what it is, would loathe doing it anytime they had to write something for work, and just overall would not have an enjoyable time sitting down to write. If they viewed it differently, like an opportunity to learn more about something, they would most likely have a more positive view on writing. At its core, writing is an art in many forms. If people view it as that (like the way they would view paintings, movies, etc) it would be a lot easier to start the process of writing. Writing is time consuming, but what isn’t? A good lesson is not taught in ten seconds, neither is a good painting or movie. Anything good takes time, and writing should not be discredited just because it looks like an intimidating block of text when at first glance might not have anything worthwhile to say.

Growing up, I never had a specific definition of writing. It was just something teachers required and something I did for homework and I never gave it a second thought. I would occasionally write on the side, but it was not until high school that I saw writing differently. I was in my freshman English class and we had gotten to the poetry unit and my teacher showed Sarah Kay’s spoken word poem “B” better known as “If I Should Have a Daughter” in class. The assignment was to write a spoken word poem and present it in class—and after the showing of “If I Should Have a Daughter” I was moved. This singular video showed me that writing could be so much more than just boring assignments. I started caring and being excited to go to my English classes, because it gave me an excuse to write and I found out that I loved writing.

I was never given a proper definition of writing (that I can remember) because I was taught that it was just an action. It was something you do, not something that is. Not something that could have meaning. Which, when I was younger, I was okay with because writing did not need to be anything else but an action. It was not until I wanted writing to mean something more that I started developing my own definition of writing.

Communication was always difficult for me, and when I was little my mom had to teach me sign language because I would not (or could not) use my words. Writing was easier than talking since it allowed me to fully process what I was going to say without stuttering or mixing up words or combining two thoughts into one sentence making a Frankenstein sentence. I have multiple trains of thought going on in my head at once and writing allows me to focus on one thought whereas verbally I would try to say three different things all at once.

Writing is a part of me. Just like my arm. It’s something that is so second nature it might as well be breathing. But that does not mean it is easy. It is certainly a lot easier than speaking, but I still feel reluctant to openly write about things that I find highly personal, and one of those things is writing. My writing is not only my writing, but it is my thoughts and emotions and opinions and expression and how I am able to communicate. It is not just writing. Writing will never be just writing ever again. To me, writing is and always will be, freedom.

There is a lot more to say about writing, and a lot more to take apart and analyze, then presented here today. The definition of writing should be as fluid as writing itself. What is writing? Writing is entertainment. Writing is therapeutic. Writing is history. Writing is culture. Writing is language and communication. Writing is important to the preservation of ideas and concepts. Writing is inevitable.