Journal #1

Writing is the capability to create an enduring record.  Although there are an innumerable amount of terms relate to the process of writing, the actual tool itself exists simply as a form of communication.  As humans we have travelled far from the early days of the stone tablet to the overwhelming and broad rise of online writing mediums (what we send in a 30 second tweet may have taken 30 hours to carve).  Despite this, the core purpose of writing still serves as a primary means of peer to peer contact.

Key Terms:
1. Technology: As this develops, so does writing.  New technology guides innovative means of writing, as well as forces other means to decline or even become obsolete.  In congruence, this then adds to the history of writing.
2. Author/Writer: An origin of writing leads back to this person(s).  They create and express their thoughts in a broad-reaching manner by utilizing the capabilities of publication.
3. Intended Audience: This is the group a particular message is directed towards.  People who successfully master writing may be able to create their audience (ie: JK Rowling writing for Harry Potter fans) or simply write towards a general group (ie: a news reporter targeting sympathy for an article on refugees).
4. Unintended Audience: While people are still guided to focus their writing towards an intended audience, the scale of global sharing also means writing often spreads to an even larger unintended audience.  Such a permeation to the "secondary" audience may have beneficial effects but also unknown consequences.
5. Style:  An individual's writing style is as unique as their personality.  Ideally, someone's personality will reflect within their style but their content and message may better express this than their delivery.  Deviation from typical styles (ie: ignoring punctuation, bypassing proper grammar, etc) are landmark traits of particular writers.
6. Composition:  Composing writing requires certain aspects such as format, outlines, theme/message, and etcetera.  Something such as a standard essay or abstract will have fairly cut-and-dry guidelines while a multi page article may deviate from these norms.  Additionally, social media and blogging have defined their own compositions based on character limits, additional media components, and so on.