INFLUENCE OF WRITING ON PEOPLE

INFLUENCE OF WRITING ON PEOPLE

ABSTRACT

Writing has been playing an essential role in our lives since we learnt how to read and write. This research paper, hence, emphasizes on how writing has influenced a person and how it has managed to change his or her life.

A caveman started writing by carving symbols on walls. The invention of quills and inks allowed people to record in scrolls of parchments. Advancements in technology have propelled people to digitize their writing rather than penning them down. No matter what is being used to write, the definition of writing remains the same: It is the work of a writer. However, it is the contents of the writing, which has evolved with time.

When a writer picks up his or her writing material, they put down their emotions, thoughts, and experiences into books, articles, or blogs, which millions of people read. These writings in one way or the other has become one of the most influential tools on people and their lives. For example, had it not been for writing, people would not have known about religion, history, or literature. Through writing, people can give advice or take advice on how to handle a business successfully. Research done by past scientists has helped present ones to find cures for diseases. It is because of writing that civilization had advanced and brought the modern evolution that people are seeing today.

Whether people know it or not, they have been heavily influenced by writing. The influence began with learning alphabets. Books guided them to improve their reading and writing skills. It has taught them how to speak English or their native languages. Interest in literature might have been encouraged by works by playwrights such as Shakespeare and authors such as J. K. Rowling. Today’s doctors and nurses have been directed to their career paths because of articles on people who do not get treated because of insufficient medical care providers. Via research paper, people are acknowledging the effects of harmful causes on environment. If they did not, there would have been less rallying against environment protection. Writing has spread awareness that is required to alert people about immoral or illegal events in the world, against which they can take a stand.

When it comes to influencing people, writing has its benefits, but it also produces disadvantageous effects as well. Forums are a platform, which allow the sharing of various perspectives. However, certain people do not appreciate opinions that go against their ideals. Thus, this brings about unnecessary disputes and bullying. People believe that writing is making one’s expression of opinion is easier and thus allowing them to change customs, which has had been established for generations.

Carboni (2006) claimed in his article The History of Writing that writing has been one of the most important element in developing civilization. According to him, origins of writing cannot be determined, as it had been “independently born in different parts of the world.” However, he does mention that around 3500-3200 B.C. the Sumerians and the Egyptians were the first people who wrote (Multiple origins section). For centuries, writing had been used for accounting purposes. Gradually, it progressed to being used for recording the dead, “for legal purposes, for literature and school texts” (Slow progress section).

Another writer, Wilford (1999), who attended a meeting and collected information regarding the origins of writing, has noted in his article When No One Read, Who Started to Write? that archaeologists, historians and other scholars did not believe that the Uruk king was the one who had invented writing to replace spoken messages. Instead, they believed, “writing more than likely began as a separate and distinct symbolic system of communication, like painting, sculpture and oral storytelling, and only later merged with spoken language.”

Like Carboni, the scholars and historians could not pinpoint the exact origins of writing. Wilford asserted in his article that they thought that writing “arose independently several times in several places, like Egypt, the Indus Valley, China and among the Olmecs and Maya of Mexico and Central America.” Dr. Holly Pittman, one of Wilford’s sources observed that the key reason why writing had been invented was because people needed to store information that could not be kept in human memory. Therefore, this has eased people’s record-keeping (Wilford, 1999).

Effective Writing Styles

Writing is a means of communication that a writer uses to convey their feelings or thoughts. Therefore, how a writer addresses a subject matter to its audience is an essential part in revealing the writer’s style of writing. This is because the manner in which a writer pens down words depicts the “writer’s personality and voice, but it also shows how [he or she] perceives the audience, and chooses conceptual writing style which reveal those choices by which the writer [might] change the conceptual world of the overall character of the work” (Wikipedia, 2011).

For example, authors who write fiction use genres such as action-adventure, thriller, horror, romance, fantasy, humor and it plays a large role in emphasizing their work. Likewise, when a journalist edits the news, they have to ensure that their writing style is of professional level. They will have to emphasize their work by being objective to the matter they are addressing.

People are affected by the style an author adopts. A writer using humor in his or her work can have an impact on the reader’s personality. They can shape them up to become wittier or develop their sense of humor. A person reading novels which have fantasy contents broadens their imagination and enables them to think outside the norm. For example, sorcery, aliens etc.

True stories have tremendous effects on people because in some way or the other, it resembles closely to their life. Therefore, emotional style of writing is effective in a sense that a reader can empathize with the situations of the person on whom the story has been written on. They can be largely affected by the fact that they are living a much fortunate life than the person and can force them to evaluate their lives.

The Power of Writing: How Has Writing Influenced People?

It can be agreed upon that writing has been one of the essential tools that has helped advance civilization. An interview taken by Boulton asserted the idea that “writing is the enabling technology of civilization.” However, the interviewee Searle (Personal Interview, n. d.) believed writing to be a constitutive element of civilization. Schools, universities, marriages, governments – they have all been established because of writing. Rules require writing, which is implemented in building these elements. In the interview, Searle believes that through writing, people has changed the way they think and talk. Through writing, people may have discovered how to uncover feelings such as love, angst or any other kinds of emotions. (J. Searle, personal communication, n.d.)

On the other hand, writing is a tool for other purposes. According to Pennebaker (2005), writing can be taken as a route to heal someone who is in an emotional turmoil regarding divorces, job rejections, university problems, relationships. This is evidenced by:

“When people are given the opportunity to write about emotional upheavals, they often experience improved health,” Pennebaker says. “They go to the doctor less. They have changes in immune function. If they are first-year college students, their grades tend to go up. People will tell us months afterward that it’s been a very beneficial experience for them”

Furthermore, the professor in the University of Texas at Austin has observed that a person’s emotional turmoil become linked to his or her relationship with others and their view of themselves. Thus, writing provides a chance for people to focus and organize the experience. They will be able to see what had led them to the emotional event, in other words, writing will “[allow] people to step back for a moment and evaluate their lives” (Pennebaker, 2005)

One way writing influences an individual or group when he or she or they make decisions. Farrell (1992) has mentioned in his article The power of writing:

Whether in business, politics, or the academic world, most corporate decisions involve complex choices (p.1)

Farrell’s belief is that writing solves the complexity of a problem, shapes decision-making, and thus has a profound impact on the reader’s mind. This can be agreed upon as when an individual is perplexed regarding choices, writing down pros and cons can help them to determine their final selection (Farrell, 1992, pp. 2-3)

Boyd et al. (1992) has interviewed students at Plymouth State College regarding the impact of writing. The researchers were surprised to find that they received positive responses. The students found writing to be enjoyable. One of them believed writing helped share views with the class, most of them responded that writing sharpened their skills of writing and disciplined them. The students were now able to structure their assignments correctly with no grammatical or spelling errors. It showed that writing played a large role in improving students’ writing skills as they go from kindergartens to higher levels of education (pp. 28-32)

Writing brings about a technique of reflecting and discovering opportunities. It teaches a person to become more carefree and solves their mental and emotional confusion (Rowley, n. d.). It has an ability to show the writer that there can be aspects to the confusion that he or she had not thought of. For example, a businessman may have a feeling that an element is missing, which is required in giving him the successful launch that is in his mind. Writing a start-up business plan can be a key guide to identify where the weaknesses lie in his plan and how opportunities can prop up. If he had not written down a business plan, he might have not spotted it and hence it might have been a less successful launch or worse, a business failure.

One of the most updated contents is in newspapers, which inform people about global events such as stock markets, business, declarations by politicians, changes in laws. In one way or the other, they have an impact on the people. Writing makes it possible for people to acknowledge these events; otherwise, they would be kept in the dark. Corrective measures can be taken by businesspeople to ensure that their business is not in jeopardy when the stock market crashes. People can fight for their right if the declarations or changes in laws can impact their lives heavily.

Sometimes people tend to choose their career paths based on their parents’ choices, sometimes they choose it because they find the field interesting. Their source of knowledge may have come from another person or through books. However, the original source will always be writing, as it is the most accessible method of recording details and elaboration about the subject revolving around the career field. For example, the present genetic engineer may not have known about the field if geneticists or specialist journalists had not written about the topic in articles or journals which have been published.

Past Writers: Their Influence on People

It can be agreed upon that if the writers in the past did not record events in their journals, neither people nor the writers of today would have access to abundance of knowledge or revolve their writings on the ideas that had been originated by them.

In the past, poems and playwrights that branched from literature held a prominent place in the society. They were written in a manner that readers would be deeply affected by the emotion portrayed in the words of the poets and playwrights. Due to William Shakespeare, literature became a popular study field. His coining of 10,000 words has brought in additions to the English dictionary, which people frequently use.

The most original source of writing has to be, perhaps, the religious books sent by God, the one who created writing. There are divisions in belief because Christians think that the Bible is the embodiment of true religion whereas Muslims strongly argue that it is one of the religious books sent by God, and the last Book, Quran, is the only reliable source for religious views. The writings in the Books guided people in choosing their faith and they live accordingly to that religion.

Perhaps, the greatest evolution occurred in thinking is because of past writers and the trend is being continued by present writers. Social networking sites are a notable platform for modern writers to express their views. The writing technique has changed from inking and penning down to keying and blogging, but people always need to find some medium to express their emotions and ideas.

1. K. Rowling has influenced children by creating the Harry Potter series. It opened a fantasy portal so that they can believe that they are on the same journey as the titular character. They were not the only ones; people ranging from teenagers to adults aged 65, believe in the author’s writing so much that they wish to be wizards and witches rather than “Muggles” (definition for non-magical people in the wizarding world). Authors like Stephen King opened up the possibility that paranormal activities do exist. This can be a reason for people being so auspicious regarding the thirteenth floor in hotels.

Because writing has been declared as an act of freedom, people around the globe have means to express their opinions and views more freely, which is more or less have a negative impact on those who oppose the ideas. Some of the TV shows and films, especially American and British ones, are gaining popularity because the scriptwriter is writing down his or her observations in a glamorized way . In this way, they are having an impact on youth, who are starting to adopt the American or British culture rather than their own country’s culture.

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Technology is the new power. 45% of the males and 25% of the females gave this for their reasoning of why writing is still not as popular as yesteryear. This is a debatable topic because it can mean that the respondents do not believe that the technology powers such as social network sites, forums and blogs are a means of communication between a reader and the writer. This should actually be the reason why the works of various writers still remains popular. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo give users immense, albeit brief, knowledge regarding subject matters, people, organization etc. In that way, technology is able to influence readers. A good reasoning for writing still not being popular can be the lack of influence that emits from present writer’s work, which 10% of the females agree upon. Due to writing becoming repetitive and not having the same essence as original writing, a reader is not influenced much in their lives.

I would recommend that the importance of writing be known amongst youth from the starting of kindergarten because the respondents who are aged between 18-28 are still indifferent to the tool that has contributed in developing them into becoming the person they are. People should also acknowledge that they would not know of history of events or individuals if someone in the past did not think they should do so. The world is mysterious. There are so many topics that people find debatable because there is no record of the subjects. Writing would have eased the debate.

CONCLUSION

I believe that writing is one of the tools that have helped us develop into the modern society that we are. We are more open to new ideas because of writing. We do not think that the possibilities end with one idea. We think the world is a mysterious box, which can sprout with all kinds of possibilities. Yes, there is a range of illiteracy rates around the globe, but people who are literates, they are trying their best to spread their knowledge amongst them so that they can benefit. This shows the strength of writing. They would not have accomplished this if they did not read the books by other writers. Speaking has more power because it is vocalized. Yet its disadvantages lie in the fact that not everything can be covered. Writing is more subtle and shows signs of progression in a person’s mentality. As Rowley said, writing is a self-reflective tool and when we write, it influences us to see what we try not to see and therefore helps us by accepting the facts.

REFERENCES

Boyd, D., Casko, C., Cavallaro, M., Linton, S., Mao, S., Morgan, J.,…Hinrnan, M. (1992). Student voices on writing at Plymouth State College. Journal on Writing Across the Curriculum, 3 (2), 28-32. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/vol3/vol3.2.pdf

Carboni, G. (2008). The history of writing (K. Loscocco, Trans.). Retrieved from http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/writing/writing.htm (Original work published 2006)

Farrell, W. J. (1992) The power of writing. Journal on Writing Across the Curriculum, 3 (2), 2-3. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/vol3/vol3.2.pdf

Pennebaker, J. W. (2005). Writing to heal. Retrieved from University of Texas at Austin website: http://www.utexas.edu/features/2005/writing/

Rowley, C. (n. d.). Articles. The Power of Writing: Generating Profound Insights and Solving Everyday Problems. Retrieved from http://www.metavoice.org/articles/article2/

Searle, J. (n. d.). Dr Searle – Language, writing, mind, and consciousness [Interview by D. Boulton]. Retrieved from http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/searle.htm

Wilford, J. N. (1999, April 6). When No One Read, Who Started to Write? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Writing style. (2011, August 3). In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 6, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_style

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