Oh boy, what a question. Its one that’s really hard to start, but ill give it a shot. I suppose my instincts would be to start at the primal reason for writing; communication. Like all things, the meaning of writing shifts over time. What was once so concrete can now be erased, re-written or removed completely.  Shared between all of these is the need to reach the audience. Although methods change, the core reason remains: We take the ideas in our heads and write them down to make them real, to preserve what we want to (or have to) say.

My more intellectual side would point out that there are a hundred different reasons, stemming from just that initial one, as to why we write. The universe of writing theory is almost endless, however, the theories can be summed up into two different sides. Artistic and non-Artistic writing. Non-Artistic writing takes the logical and sound evidence of real life to convey or persuade the audience. Artistic writing would use all the literary tools at hand to  convey more of an idea or ideology. A speech writer would write a very passionate speech, filled with metaphors and good cheer, but include few facts or real substance, conveying an idea more than a solution/action. The audience would need to be enticed over to your side of thinking.  A business writer would try to convey a solution to a problem with a plan (facts, charts, evidence) keeping in mind the audience would want to hear what he has to say. These different kinds of writings all have the same core purpose, to get the audience on the authors side.

Now that all the core stuff is out of the way, there is the side of me that is far FAR more liberal.One that truly and honestly thinks that writing is from the heart, regardless of audience, done only to appease the author and nobody else. This is found more in fiction and, while it may have some good things to say, usually is for enjoyment , entertainment or for the “self” more than anything. I associate more with this style, but its a double edged sword. While a flowery portrait can convey meaning and lead to a end goal, it doesn’t have to. Whatever “second-layer” idea the author had could be swept under the rug and never heard from again.

Writing is a critical part of all communication since the dawn of time. We all have the ability to do it (aside for those of us who don’t. Then in that case, sorry for your, I’m sure, terrible life.)But whatever purpose the writing includes, its core function is to say something. And regardless of who you are, that s something I’m sure you can get behind.

MA