What is the reason for creating written work?

Answer 1

I say write or die. It is the end product that provides the reason to create written work. Think religious texts, including the bible.

One reason to create written work is to make a record. Without James Madison and the other delegates' records of the debates at the Constitutional Convention (Madison also wrote a couple dozen of the Federalist Papers), we would be here guessing about the influences and beliefs of the Framers and the debates that led to the Constitution which has guided this country since 1787. The secretaries who recorded the Spanish Inquisition down to the most minute and hideous details left a chilling record and a cautionary tale about organized terror, persecution of minorities, and the universal ability of any, all, humans to commit atrocities -- usually away from the public eye, in dungeons, in torture chambers, in death camps -- when given unchecked power. The courts maintain verbatim transcripts of proceedings for a reason, and it is wise to remember that judicial decisions are appealed and often overturned because of those written works.

Other reasons to create written work are seeking help, warning others, and gaining support for causes close to us. Messages in bottles, SOSs drawn on remote beaches, and even smoke signals are 'written works.' All those political flyers that collect in our mailboxes every election season are written works. National Weather Service severe weather warnings, CDC epidemic warnings, CPSC recall notices, and DHS terrorist threat alerts all are written works carefully crafted to avoid public panic and lawlessness.

Another equally important reason to create written work is to express feelings and describe events from public spectacles to the most intimate private thoughts, such as a diary written while hiding in an attic to avoid capture by the Nazis, attempting to capture feelings and thoughts, to exorcise demons, to express perceptions and emotions, both good and bad, in ways that may benefit audiences desperate to understand, unable to clarify their own thoughts and feelings, seeking to find common ground for exploring controversial topics, wishing to feed common passions, and the list goes on.

The most important reason to create written work: ensuring the next generation has the same incredible opportunities to understand history and the world around them, to be moved by beautiful literature, and to differentiate between objective reporting, yellow journalism, and the rantings of cultists. Children begin to interpret their world the day they are born, and with so much of our world in the form of written works, they will need these skills too in order to survive in the 21st century. So, the best reason to create written works is to improve the interpretive skills and grow the creative abilities of young people who one day will follow in the footsteps of James Madison, Sylvia Plath, Kant, Schopenhauer, JK Rowling, Stephen King, Simone de Beauvoir, Matt Groening, Ayn Rand, the reporters who wrote eloquently and movingly about 9/11 (and those reporters who died in Iraq), Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the Justices of the Supreme Court, and yes, perhaps even the secretaries of the Inquisition.

We are trained all our lives to write and to understand written works, and it is incumbent upon us to create written work, to attempt to understand even those written works that contain ideas and opinions with which we do not agree, and to teach our kids to do the same. Otherwise, we will not flourish.

Answer 2

Author's Purpose