Writing as Self-Reflection

Writing as Communication 

What does it mean to be “writing as communication”?  It means to write in a way that guides others in the direction as to where you want to lead them. “ When we wish others to understand what we have written or to accept what we have put down on paper, we are faced with the responsibilities inherent in the desire to communicate rather than to express.” This means that writing is a responsibility that provides a message to the reader as to what is not implied but meant in the reading. Also, when writing it is important to think of the reader as a consumer. A consumer is a person that is looking to make a purchase or is in need of something and will make an immediate decision. The writing of an individual has to be the same. It has to provide a sense of meaning and want that the reader will not want to put down the material but instead keep reading trying to find additional time to keep the material in their hands and not setting down until they are finished. “All of us are consumers of ideas even more than we are producers of ideas. It is to the difference between the two concepts that I would call your attention, for it is to our failure to draw this distinction that I attribute much of the dissatisfaction that hovers over our teaching of writing.”