Writing as a mean of discovery

Writing, writing anything like a letter, an essay or anything at all can really be a mean of discovery. Writing is not merely transcribing some aspect of the world around us. Writing is a means by which we, as individuals, can put ourselves into the "universal record book."

If we write something well, even if it is only a report or a resume, we have pinned down (or 'penned' down) in writing a perspective or an idea that is ours alone. That piece of writing has the possibility of being read by others in other places and other times than our own.

With electronic text, the ease with which we can write something that people far away can read is greatly increased. With the World Wide Web, we can, practically for free, say something about ourselves or our lives that is it possible for a hundred, a thousand, even a million people could read, and in so doing learn something about us and lives. Today people can create personal web pages, their own places on the web where they can give others a glimpse into what makes them tick. Technology and writing is great. But electronic gadgets will never be a substitute for a book or a personal letter to a friend. I always will remember what my grammar school teacher said to me:

“The written word may last forever on the written page, but the written word means nothing until spoken."

That’s certainly true. For many people written words mean nothing until they hear it spoken aloud.