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Do not fill this in! == Contemporary uses == Some professions are typically associated with writing, such as literary authors, journalists, and technical writers, but writing is pervasive in most modern forms of work, civic participation, household management, and leisure activities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Dorothy E. |date=2001 |title=Texts and the ontology of organizations and institutions |journal=Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=160 |doi=10.1080/10245280108523557 |s2cid=146217590}}</ref> The following are examples of this pervasiveness, but they are far from encompassing all the uses of writing. === Business and finance === {{See also|Professional writing|Professional communication}} Writing permeates everyday commerce. For example, in the course of an afternoon, a wholesaler might receive a written inquiry about the availability of a product line, then communicate with suppliers and fabricators through work orders and purchase agreements, correspond via email to affirm shipping availability with a [[drayage]] company, write an invoice, and request proof of receipt in the form of a written signature. At a much larger scale, modern systems of finances, banking, and business rest on many forms of written documents—including written regulations, policies, and procedures; the creation of reports and other monitoring documents to make, evaluate, and provide accountability for decisions and operations; the creation and maintenance of records; internal written communications within departments to coordinate work; written communications that comprise work products presented to other departments and to clients; and external communications to clients and the public.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yates|first=JoAnne|author-link=JoAnne Yates|year=1989|title=Control through Communication: The Rise of System in American Management|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-3757-9}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>Smart, G. (2006). ''Writing the economy: Activity, genre and technology in the world of banking.'' London: Equinox.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> Business and financial organizations also rely on many written legal documents, such as contracts, reports to government agencies, tax records, and accounting reports.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devitt |first=Amy J. |title=Textual Dynamics of the Professions: Historical and Contemporary Studies of Writing in Professional Communities |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1991 |location=Madison |pages=336–357 |chapter=Intertextuality in Tax Accounting: Generic, Referential, and Functional}}</ref> Financial institutions and markets that hold, transmit, trade, insure, or regulate holdings for clients or other institutions are particularly dependent on written records (though now often in digital form) to maintain the integrity of their roles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yates|first=JoAnne|author-link=JoAnne Yates|year=2005|title=Structuring the Information Age: Life Insurance and Technology in the Twentieth Century|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8086-5}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> === Governance and law === Many modern systems of government are organized and sanctified through written [[constitution]]s at the national and sometimes state or other organizational levels. Written rules and procedures typically guide the operations of the various branches, departments, and other bodies of government, which regularly produce reports and other documents as work products and to account for their actions. In addition to [[Legislature|legislative branches]] that draft and pass laws, these laws are administered by an [[Executive (government)|executive branch]], which can present further written regulations specifying the laws and how they are carried out.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kerwin|first1=Cornelius M.|author1-link=Cornelius M. Kerwin|last2=Furlong|first2=Scott R.|year=2019|title=Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy|edition=5th|publisher=Sage Publishing|isbn=978-1-48335-281-7}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref> Governments at different levels also typically maintain written records on citizens concerning identities, life events such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, the granting of licenses for controlled activities, criminal charges, traffic offenses, and other penalties small and large, and tax liability and payments.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 |title=Vital Records |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/vital-records |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=National Archives |language=en |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224225956/https://www.archives.gov/research/vital-records |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Governance]] systems also produce [[policy|policies]] to shape society's activities, sometimes also [[International treaty|at the international level]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Steven J. |last2=Baral |first2=Prativa |last3=Rogers Van Katwyk |first3=Susan |last4=Sritharan |first4=Lathika |last5=Hughsam |first5=Matthew |last6=Randhawa |first6=Harkanwal |last7=Lin |first7=Gigi |last8=Campbell |first8=Sophie |last9=Campus |first9=Brooke |last10=Dantas |first10=Maria |last11=Foroughian |first11=Neda |last12=Groux |first12=Gaëlle |last13=Gunn |first13=Elliot |last14=Guyatt |first14=Gordon |last15=Habibi |first15=Roojin |last16=Karabit |first16=Mina |last17=Karir |first17=Aneesh |last18=Kruja |first18=Krista |last19=Lavis |first19=John N. |last20=Lee |first20=Olivia |last21=Li |first21=Binxi |last22=Nagi |first22=Ranjana |last23=Naicker |first23=Kiyuri |last24=Røttingen |first24=John-Arne |last25=Sahar |first25=Nicola |last26=Srivastava |first26=Archita |last27=Tejpar |first27=Ali |last28=Tran |first28=Maxwell |last29=Zhang |first29=Yu-qing |last30=Zhou |first30=Qi |last31=Poirier |first31=Mathieu J. P. |title=International treaties have mostly failed to produce their intended effects |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=9 August 2022 |volume=119 |issue=32 |pages=e2122854119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2122854119 |pmid=35914153 |pmc=9372541 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11922854H }} * University press release: {{cite news |title=Do international treaties actually work? Study says they mostly don't |url=https://phys.org/news/2022-08-international-treaties-dont.html |access-date=15 September 2022 |work=[[York University]] |language=en |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915095030/https://phys.org/news/2022-08-international-treaties-dont.html |url-status=live }}</ref> e.g., allocating [[budget]]s and regulating or actuating [[economic]] mechanisms, ideally towards collective [[goal]]s and [[value (ethics)|values]] such as safety and health or [[problem solving|addressing]] identified problems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirlin |first1=J. J. |title=What Government Must Do Well: Creating Value for Society |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |date=1 January 1996 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=161–185 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024298|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=X |last2=Ramesh |first2=M |last3=Howlett |first3=M |title=Policy capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding policy competences and capabilities |journal=Policy and Society |date=1 September 2015 |volume=34 |issue=3–4 |pages=165–171 |doi=10.1016/j.polsoc.2015.09.001|s2cid=154823584 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kerwin |first1=Cornelius M. |last2=Furlong |first2=Scott R. |title=Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy |year=2018 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4833-5282-4 }}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> These also include systems at subnational levels, such as cities and multinational corporations (e.g., [[corporate governance]] and Web platform governance). Written legal codes in modern governments are typically produced by legislative branches and provide standardized rules for commercial, civil, and lawful activity.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Gibbons |editor1-first=John |title=Language and the law |publisher=Longman |year=1994 |location=New York|ISBN=9780582101456}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> The legal codes also provide remedies and penalties for violations of the rules, as well as procedures for their enforcement. In the United States, legal proceedings in courts produce written records, which can be appealed based on the written records to higher courts. Written records carry particular evidentiary weight in court proceedings. Lawyers also offer [[Legal writing|written briefs]] for initial proceedings, subsequent appeals, and other points at issue; maintain files on the cases they are engaged with; and negotiate written agreements that might resolve cases. Judges produce written opinions that may then be treated as precedent for subsequent cases.<ref>Tiersma, P. (2008). Writing, Text, and the Law. ''Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text,'' New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. pp. 125–137.</ref><ref>Tiersma, P. (2010). ''Parchment, Paper, Pixels: Law and the Technologies of Communication''. University of Chicago Press.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>Tiersma, P & Solan, L. (Eds.) (2012). ''The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law.'' Oxford University Press.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> Police departments and other bodies charged with the enforcement of laws and maintenance of civil, commercial, or criminal order regularly must produce reports of the interactions with community members, actions taken, the process and results of inquiries, and the disposition of cases.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seawright |first=Leslie |title=Genre of Power: Police Report Writers and Readers in the Justice System |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8141-1842-9 |series=Studies in Writing and Rhetoric |location=Urbana, IL}}</ref> Such cases are often initiated by written complaints by those alleging injury, thereby opening a file on the case, which then aggregates all the related documents and reports to follow. These files serve as the basis for processing the case, as potential evidence in legal proceedings, and for monitoring and making accountable the working of these departments.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yu |first1=Han |last2=Monas |first2=Natalie |title=Recreating the Scene: An Investigation of Police Report Writing |journal=Journal of Technical Writing and Communication |date=January 2020 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=35–55 |doi=10.1177/0047281618812441 |s2cid=69505178 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Michael |title=Put It in Writing: The Police Policy Manual |journal=FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin |date=October 2000 |volume=69 |issue=10 |pages=1–5 |id={{NCJ|185444}} |oclc=4769477311 |url=http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2000/oct00leb.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010913015326/http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2000/oct00leb.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2001 }}</ref> === Scientific and scholarly knowledge production === [[File:201805 article.png|thumb|Layout of a typical modern scientific study with a summarizing [[Abstract (summary)|abstract]] near the top, below (multiple lines of) [[metadata]]]] Knowledge produced in [[Academic discipline|research disciplines]] of the sciences, social sciences, and humanities arises primarily in the form of [[Research|journal articles]] and book [[monograph]]s. Experiments, observational data, archival documents, and other evidence collected as part of [[research]] inquiries are then represented within the [[Academic authorship|written contribution]] and serve as the [[Citation|basis]] for arguments for new claims intended to be published in specialized [[academic journal]]s and [[university press]]es. Such data collection and drafting of [[manuscript]]s may be supported by grants, which usually require proposals establishing the value of such work and the need for funding.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tardy |first1=Christine M. |title=A Genre System View of the Funding of Academic Research |journal=Written Communication |date=January 2003 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=7–36 |doi=10.1177/0741088303253569 |s2cid=5205721 }}</ref> The data and procedures are also typically collected in [[lab notebook]]s or other preliminary files.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Latour |first1=Bruno |title=Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts |last2=Woolgar |first2=Steve |publisher=Princeton UP |year=1986 |isbn=0-691-02832-X}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> [[Preprint|Early versions]] of the possible publications may also be presented at academic or disciplinary conferences or on publicly accessible web servers to gain peer feedback and build interest in the work. Prior to official publication, these documents are typically read and evaluated by [[Peer review|referees]] from the appropriate research specialties, who, in their written evaluations, determine whether the work is of sufficient value and quality to be published.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hyland |first=Ken |title=Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-472-03024-8 |location=Ann Arbor |pages=1–19}}</ref> Referees may also recommend certain improvements be made or that the work not be published. Publication in such a disciplinary forum does not establish the claims or findings of such work as authoritatively true, only that they are worth the attention of other specialists. Only over time, as others may cite the work (see [[intertextuality]]) and use it to advance further claims and the work appears in review articles, handbooks, textbooks, or other aggregations, does it become codified as contingently reliable knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bazerman |first=Charles |title=Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science. |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1988 |location=Madison WI}}</ref> Scientific or scholarly work written for more popular audiences relies on the published work of the scientific literature for its authority but does not in itself directly contribute to the scientific literature.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} === Journalism === {{Main|Journalism}} News and news reporting are central to citizen engagement and knowledge of many spheres of activity people may be interested in about the state of their community, including the actions and integrity of their governments and government officials, economic trends, natural disasters and responses to them, international geopolitical events, including conflicts, but also sports, entertainment, books, and other leisure activities. While news and newspapers have grown rapidly from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, the changing economics and ability to produce and distribute news have brought about radical and rapid challenges to journalism and the consequent organization of citizen knowledge and engagement.<ref>Conboy, M. (2008). "Writing and Journalism: Politics, Social Movements, and the Public Sphere". ''Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text,'' New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. pp. 201–216.{{isbn missing}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Perrin |first=Daniel |title=The linguistics of newswriting |publisher=John Benjamins |year=2013 |location=Amsterdam}}</ref> These changes have also created challenges for [[Journalism ethics and standards|journalism ethics]] that have been developed over the past century.<ref>Pavlik, J. V. (2001). ''Journalism and the new media''. New York: Columbia University Press.{{isbn missing}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref> === Technical and medical writing === {{Main|Technical writing|Medical writing}} Technical and medical writing are recognized writing specialties that, address the needs of scientifically and technologically based professions for precise, accurate, and timely communications, internally and externally, for the audiences the professions serve. Internally, these specialized writers ensure that communications present the necessary information in clear and precise terms to people in various roles. Both in the writing they do, and with the support they provide other professionals within their organizations, they make sure that each person within the organization has the information they need and that the work of the organization is coordinated by making sure all necessary tasks are assigned, and carried out, in a timely and accurate way. Through various media and genres, technical and medical writers elicit the goodwill and cooperation of the public served, while informing the public of the services and products offered, instructions needed for best outcomes, and other information. Technical and medical writers make sure appropriate and accurate records are kept for internal and external accountability and regulation. An important part of their roles is to prepare reports for government approval and monitoring.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} === Literature and the leisure book market === Works of [[literature]] encompass written fiction, poetry, autobiography and memoir, non-fiction, and scripts of dramatic, cinematic or video performance, and hybridized forms of some or all of those previously listed. Works of literature sell widely and encompass a wide substantial market provided by large corporate publishers, self-published writers, and everything in-between. A certain subset of these works gain scholarly attention and are taught in literature classes at schools at all levels, including [[children's literature]], [[Young adult fiction|young adult literature]], and [[Western canon|canonical literature]] taught at universities; these works typically become the subject of another form of writing: [[Research|academic scholarship]]. Other forms of literature that are widely circulated but have only limited scholarly attention include [[historical fiction]], [[science fiction]], [[Romance novel|romance]], [[fan fiction]], [[western fiction]], [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|dystopic and apocalyptic fiction]], [[mystery fiction]], [[Fantasy literature|fantasy and myth]]. Other segments of the book market include non-fictional works that some may not characterize as literature but exist within the same marketing space, such as [[popular history]], [[biography]] and [[autobiography]], political and celebrity [[memoir]]s, [[Self-help book|self-help]] and educational books, [[popular science]] and technology, accounts of [[Social issue|social problems]], and [[Futures studies|futuristic projections]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} Authors and publishers' agents produce considerable documentation preparatory and subsequent to the successful publication of literature: [[Prospectus (book)|prospectuses]], developmental editing notes, [[contract]]s, correspondence with potential reviewers, [[Press release|press-releases]], marketing plans, etc.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} === Writing within education and educational institutions === Formal education is the social context most strongly associated with the learning of writing, and students may carry these particular associations long after leaving school.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wingate |first=Ursula |date=2012 |title='Argument!' helping students understand what essay writing is about |journal=Journal of English for Academic Purposes |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=145–154|doi=10.1016/j.jeap.2011.11.001 |s2cid=73669683 }}</ref> Alongside the writing that students read (in the forms of textbooks, assigned books, and other instructional materials as well as self-selected books) students do much writing within schools at all levels, on subject exams, in essays, in taking notes, in doing homework, and in [[Writing assessment|formative and summative assessments]]. Some of this is explicitly directed toward the learning of writing, but much is focused more on subject learning.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Perry D. |title=Handbook of Writing Research |last2=Arcon |first2=Nina |last3=Baker |first3=Samanta |publisher=Guilford Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4625-2243-9 |edition=2nd |location=New York |pages=245–246 |chapter=Writing to Learn}}</ref><ref name="Williams et al. (2019)">{{cite journal |vauthors=Williams C, Beam S |date=2019 |title=Technology and writing: review of research |journal=Computers & Education |volume=128 |pages=227–242 |doi=10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.024 |s2cid=53746020}}</ref> Students receive much writing from their teachers as well in the forms of assignments and syllabi, directions for activities, worksheets, corrections on work, or information about subjects or exams. Students also receive institutional notices and regulations, sometimes to be shared with families. Students also may write [[teacher evaluations]] for use by teachers to improve instruction or by others reviewing quality of teacher instruction, particularly within higher education.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} Writing also pervades schools and educational institutions in less visible and memorable ways.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinkead |first=Joyce A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1285306363 |title=A writing studies primer |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-55481-531-9 |location=Peterborough, Ontario |pages=295–310 |oclc=1285306363}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/744299034 |title=A short history of writing instruction : from ancient Greece to contemporary America |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-89746-4 |edition=3rd |location=New York |oclc=744299034}}</ref> Since schools are typically hierarchically arranged bureaucracies, writing also circulates in the forms of notices and regulations that teachers receive from their supervisors and arrange their instruction according to district and state syllabi and regulations. Teachers often must produce and submit lesson plans or other information about their teaching. In primary and secondary education teachers may need to write notices or letters to parents about matters relating to their children's learning, school activities, or regulations. Within school hierarchies many memos, notices, or other documents may flow. National policies and regulations as elaborated by ministries or departments of education may also be of consequence. Additionally, research in the various subject areas and in educational studies may be attended to by educators in the classroom and higher bureaucratic levels. And of course, subject learning draws on the knowledge produced and authorized by disciplines.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} === Software code === {{See also|Command (computing)}} [[File:C Hello World Program.png|thumb|A sample code in the C programming language that displays '[["Hello, World!" program|Hello, World!]]' when executed ]] {{Excerpt|Software development|only=paragraphs}} === Hypertext === {{See also|Timeline of hypertext technology}} {{Excerpt|Hypertext|files=1|templates=-InfoMaps}} === Other === * Written personal and group communication, using [[Letter (message)|letters]], signed texts such as [[open letter]]s, [[e-mail]]s, [[social media]] and [[chat software]] * Unoriginal writing such as [[translation]] of texts and [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of spoken language * [[Screenwriter|Screenplay writing]] for film and other audiovisual scenes. 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