Asking My Non-Writer Friends About Writing
As the writer of my friend group, I personally get a kick out of asking my non-writer friends what they think about the art of writing. Most of them appreciate writing for what it is, but they don't really dive too deep down the rabbit-hole of the writing universe. So, I decided to ask them a few questions regarding writing and composing. Listed below is a video of my best friend/roommate, Hannah, explaining her thoughts on writing.
As you can see, Hannah has more than a few thoughts about writing, but she doesn't really go in to explicit detail. When asking my other friends (who lamely declined the request to be filmed) what they thought about writing, I got some of the same responses. My friend Hailey decided that writing and composing were the same thing, but composing consisted of more thought. I think that's pretty much the general consensus when it comes to comparing those two subjects. Composing has a purpose and requires a little more thought, where writing can be anything involving a pen and a piece of paper. When asking my friend Raquel what she writes, she stated, "essays for class, or like, to-do lists". In Raquel's defense, she is an engineering major so writing isn't exactly her cup of tea.
All three of my friends write because they are assigned to, not really because they desire to. I think that's interesting because it makes me realize that I'm doing something that I love. Writing, composing, reading, speaking--those are all things that I enjoy doing, things that I want to make a career out of. According to these interviews, I think writing is more of an act and can involve anything from lists to blurbs to blog posts. Composing, however, has more of a direct purpose and is intentionally made to be shared. I'll continue to be the "writer" of my friend group, and I'll continue to love it no matter what my friends opinions are.
As you can see, Hannah has more than a few thoughts about writing, but she doesn't really go in to explicit detail. When asking my other friends (who lamely declined the request to be filmed) what they thought about writing, I got some of the same responses. My friend Hailey decided that writing and composing were the same thing, but composing consisted of more thought. I think that's pretty much the general consensus when it comes to comparing those two subjects. Composing has a purpose and requires a little more thought, where writing can be anything involving a pen and a piece of paper. When asking my friend Raquel what she writes, she stated, "essays for class, or like, to-do lists". In Raquel's defense, she is an engineering major so writing isn't exactly her cup of tea.
All three of my friends write because they are assigned to, not really because they desire to. I think that's interesting because it makes me realize that I'm doing something that I love. Writing, composing, reading, speaking--those are all things that I enjoy doing, things that I want to make a career out of. According to these interviews, I think writing is more of an act and can involve anything from lists to blurbs to blog posts. Composing, however, has more of a direct purpose and is intentionally made to be shared. I'll continue to be the "writer" of my friend group, and I'll continue to love it no matter what my friends opinions are.
Yes, the idea that writing = academic writing is really strong across our culture, and standardized testing movements make writing another barrier/chore/obligation instead of a way to communicate. How do you think their thoughts on writing would change if they recognized everyday forms of writing like texting, emailing, writing a note, etc?
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