Why Write?

"If you can't write online in today's global business economy, you cannot compete."

It is important to perceive writing and the writing process as long-term assets.

This means that:

• learning to write well now can - and will - invite exciting professional opportunities

• writing well enables more efficient and comprehensive learning of academic material, as well as insightful and productive learning about yourself, your everyday thoughts and emotions, and how these attributes affect your quality of life? What role does writing play in thinking and learning? How can strong research and writing skills prepare you for a professional career? Beyond work, how can writing enrich your life? These questions are pursued in depth below. Remember, writing is more than being able to craft a grammatically correct sentences: Writing is a powerful way to develop and share creative ideas.

Write to Do Well in School and Extend Career Options

In school, you need to write well to demonstrate understanding of course content.

Out of school, you need to write well in order to complete a variety of documents, including effective job application materials, email, proposals, and evaluations. Management positions, in particular, require effective communication abilities because managers must often write to instruct and evaluate people who report to them and to their own bosses.

In work situations, you may develop proposals to gain income. Authors are paid well for their articles, books, and screenplays. In 2000, for example, 60,000 books were published, earning 25 billion dollars. In 2001, 212 billion dollars were awarded for successful grant proposals.

Write to Experience and Enrich Your Creative Abilities

Realize your creative potential by writing. As you write, you will make surprising connections among ideas and the act of writing will help you generate ideas. While writing, you can imagine ideas, places, and concepts that you otherwise might not consider.

Write to Understand Material Better

You can solidify your understanding of difficult concepts by writing. Writing about difficult-to-understand topics can help you remember the subject over time. As you write about a topic, you will work to organize the topic, to focus on what is important, which will help you be more aware of what you do and do not understand.

Write to Make Connections with Others

Writing requires you to consider distinct audiences who have different values, experiences, religions, and world views. By working to communicate to others, your own knowledge and perspective evolves.

Write to Advance Knowledge (i.e., to be a producer rather than a consumer of knowledge)

As you read and summarize other people's ideas, your own understanding of a topic is likely to become richer, more complex. Eventually, as you read, write, and think about a topic, you can become an innovator. Then, you may wish to write to communicate your own ideas.

Write to Participate in an Academic or Professional Community

Distinct disciplines have specific conventions for developing knowledge. Sociologists, for example, may rely on observations and case studies. Geologists will develop mathematical models to estimate ground-water flow. Computer scientists conduct bench studies.

Write to Influence Others

Reading and writing texts can help you become a member of academic and professional communities, enabling you to make meaningful contributions. Thanks to the Internet, you can communicate with many people throughout the world who share your interests and passions.

When people make decisions, they rely on what they read. We live in an information society. Important documents are written down, and people who can communicate well earn power and the respect of others.

Write for Personal Growth

By writing you can reflect on how you respond to different situations and people. Writing can help you understand and realize your personal visions. Writing can help you set schedules and manage your own writing processes.