Journal 1

    Writing is one of the most basic means of communication between people. Whether it be in research papers, newspaper articles, blogs, letters, poems, or novels, the author of a work is conveying a certain belief to an audience.
    Words have power- they can evoke emotion and persuade the firmest of believers. I think every word, especially written, has purpose. We do not simply throw sentences together, we think about what it is we want to communicate and spell it out in a way that is effective to our purpose. For researchers and scholars, they wish to inform the public about specific topics, so they formulate writings full of undisputed facts and theories; for journalists, they hope to persuade and inform the public about an issue, so they sprinkle articles with underhanded opinion; and for novelists, they desire to draw the reader into a world different than their own, so they create pages full of magic and wonder.
    Some key terms I think best define writing are:

        1. Structure- No matter what medium, all writing has to have a basic structure to be effective.
       
        2. Motive- All writing serves a purpose (to entertain, to persuade, to inform...)
       
        3. Audience- Whether or not an author writes to a targeted audience or not, the topic, structure and word choice will appeal to specific individuals.
       
        4. Inventive- Writing needs to be creative. There are too many pieces that share identical, if not similar, ideas today. An imaginative author will go much farther in this field than a copy cat.
       
        5. Intricate- Writing is complex. It needs to be simple enough for a reader to understand, but detailed enough to hold attention. There needs to be a strong tone and relatable characters, there needs to be a conflict and resolution of some kind, the work should be meaningful and stir thought and emotion within a reader, etc.

        6. Universal- The theme of a piece of writing, whether intended for a specific audience or not, should be understood by a more general population. All major subjects, such as love, hope, pain, war, loss, disaster, and tragedy, are common on a global level and can relate to most everyone.

Word Count: 362