Grecia Betancourth

ENGL 1301

WHY IS WRITING IMPORTANT?

Since we were kids, in school our teachers often gave us writing assignments, or told

us to write notes, and now, as college students, there are also writing assignments, so, I

think writing has to be that important, but, why is it that important? Can we learn more easily

if we write? or are there other benefits from writing? Maybe if we solve these questions we

can be more motivated in our courses to start writing more, or also in our daily life, and start

to write with a purpose.

First, we need to know that there are different types of writing, depending on our

purpose they can be:

-Informational writing. It explains a topic with facts, it informs.

-Opinion writing. Explain what you think about a certain topic.

-Narrative writing. Shares a story, it can include characters, plot, and dialogue, its

purpose is to entertain (Scholastic news).

Writing can be defined as an extremely versatile tool that can be used to accomplish

a variety of goals (Graham, 2006, as cited in Graham, 2012), this goals can be

communicating to your friends, family, etc, doing notes to remember something, express

feelings or ideas, share experiences from the past, and so many more. Writing can have an

impact in how students read, Graham and Hebert (2010, 2011) found that when students in

grades 1–6 wrote more, there was a corresponding improvement in their reading

comprehension skills (Graham).

In Cecilia Knapp’s TED talk, she said that our society relates our silence, and not

sharing our emotions with strength, but that can cause negative impact in our life, she

recommends everyone to express our feelings by writing. I share through writing, I write

about loss and what scares me, I write stories, I imagine, I comment and I write what I’ve

seen in the hope that people can find comfort in it” (Knapp). This shows us that writing is not
just for school, or learn, it can also be useful in our daily life, in our mental health, to share

our feelings, and stories, for example, having a journal, maybe no one will see it, but you are

writing your daily experiences in it, and that is the important part.

Ruthanne Reid shares 6 reasons why we write in Why do you write:

1. We write for others

2. We write for ourselves

3. We write for the sake of the story

4. We write for the sake of beauty

5. We write for the sake of grief

6. We write for fun

(Reid)

So, there is not just one reason for us to write, they can vary depending on your objective,

that is what makes writing interesting, there is no correct way of doing it, you just do it.

As college students, maybe we should be asking the purpose of writing in college,

“Writing forces students to think about their own positions more clearly, examine evidence

more critically, and learn to both understand and empathize with the positions of others”

(Kilcrease). College’s writing assignments have their own characteristics, because now we

have to be following certain rules or indications. For example, we always need to focus on

one question of a subject to start our writing, and that is our purpose.
Graham, Steve, et al. “Writing: Importance, Development, and Instruction.” Reading &

Writing, vol. 26, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9395-2.

https://utrgv.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?

docid=cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_1417554847&context=PC&vid=01UT_RGV_INST:UTR

GV&lang=en&search_scope=Search_All&adaptor=Primo

%20Central&tab=Search_All&query=any,contains,importance%20of%20writing&offset=10

Kilcrease, Bethany. Falsehood and Fallacy: How to Think, Read, and Write in the Twenty-

First Century, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021.

https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487588649

Reid , Ruthanne. “Why Do You Write?” The Write Practice, 20 July 2015,

https://thewritepractice.com/why-do-you-write/.

“Types of Writing.” Scholastic News (Trails Ed.), vol. 70, no. 13, 2014.

https://utrgv.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UT_RGV_INST/18vpea1/

cdi_gale_infotrac_357035223

“Why You Should Write | Cecilia Knapp | TEDxWarwick.” Performance by Cecilia Knapp,

YouTube, YouTube, 14 Apr. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=PTAquXIa1Fs&t=519s Accessed 16 Oct. 2022.