By Conner Earnest
Humans communicate in many different ways, and writing is one of those. Writing is a learned skill and not one that has always been around for people to use. Speech is another for of communication that humans use, however, speech is a natural thing which does not have to be thoroughly taught as much as writing does and has been around forever. In the article Writing Is Not Natural by Dylan B. Dryer, he explains how writing altogether is a technology and there are many different forms that writing could take on. He explains how speech is a natural process of expression, speech also can convey many different things based on many different factors. Speech includes different things that writing can not, because one’s facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, and many other things can express a whole different meaning behind what is being said.
Writing is a form of communication that has its own set of rules that have changed over many years and has required a lot of teaching. The writer also states that writing does not thoroughly express the full message that one is trying to convey. The message behind the writing is also subjective to the reader and how that reader is feeling or their outlook on the reading itself. The writing is subjective to the reader because the message is easier to be misinterpreted than it would in verbal communication with other aspects that help emphasize certain points of the message. The reader can also have an opinion on the topic of the writing itself that could vary from each writer and how and where they were raised. Misinterpretation is very common in all forms of communication, however, it more often occurs in writing because the authors are not able to directly express themselves with mere words alone.
Writing encompasses many different factors, which classify it as a technology, these factors vary between many different forms of writing and also many different genres. A writing can be formatted differently based on the intended audience and the genuine purpose behind the writing itself. Writing also must include correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure. The paragraphs of a writing piece also has to have paragraphs that flow well together, to a point where the writing draws the reader in and catches their full attention. Often certain writings are required to have a certain word count or to have a certain structure or format or purpose unlike with speech, a natural form of communication.
