Editing Writing (section)

== Tools, materials, and motivations to write ==
{{See also|Writing implement}}

Any instance of writing involves a complex interaction among available tools, intentions, cultural customs, cognitive routines, genres, tacit and explicit knowledge, and the constraints and limitations of the systems used.{{sfnp|Jakobs|Perrin|2014|p=8}} Inscriptions have been made with [[finger]]s, [[stylus]]es, [[quill]]s, [[ink brush]]es, [[pencil]]s, [[pen]]s, and many styles of [[lithography]]; surfaces used for these inscriptions include [[stone tablet]]s, [[clay tablet]]s, bamboo slats, [[papyrus]], [[wax tablet]]s, [[vellum]], [[parchment]], [[paper]], [[intaglio printing|copperplate]], [[Blackboard|slate]], [[porcelain]], and other [[Whiteboard|enameled surfaces]].

The [[typewriter]] and subsequently various digital [[word processor]]s have recently become widespread writing tools, and studies have compared the ways in which [[writer]]s have framed the experience of writing with such tools as compared with the pen or pencil.{{sfnp|Lindgren|Sullivan|2019}}

Advancements in [[natural language processing]] and [[natural language generation]] have resulted in software capable of  producing certain forms of formulaic writing (e.g., weather forecasts and brief sports reporting) without the direct involvement of humans{{sfnp|Reiter|Dale|2000}} after initial configuration or, more commonly, to be used to support writing processes such as generating initial drafts, producing feedback with the help of a rubric, copy-editing, and [[machine translation|helping translation]].{{sfnp|Katsnelson|2022|pp=208–209}}

[[File:Olin-Warner-LoC-tympanum-Highsmith.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.2|A bronze [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] representing writing, above the main entrance to the [[Thomas Jefferson Building]] in Washington, D.C., sculpted by [[Olin Levi Warner]] in 1896]]
Writing technologies from different eras coexist easily in many homes and workplaces. During the course of a day or even a single episode of writing, for example, a writer might instinctively switch among a pencil, a touchscreen, a text-editor, a whiteboard, a legal pad, and adhesive notes as different purposes arise.{{sfnp|O'Hara|Taylor|Newman|Sellen|2002|pp=269–305}}

=== Motivations and purposes ===
As human societies emerged, collective motivations for the [[development of writing]] were driven by pragmatic exigencies like keeping track of produce and other wealth, recording [[history]], maintaining [[culture]], codifying knowledge through [[curricula]] and lists of texts deemed to contain foundational knowledge (e.g. ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'') or artistic value (e.g. the [[literary canon]]), organizing and governing societies through texts including [[legal codes]], [[census]] records, [[contract]]s, [[deed]]s of ownership, [[tax]]ation, [[trade agreement]]s, and [[treaties]].{{sfnp|Anderson|2007|pp=177–190}} As [[Charles Bazerman]] explains, the "marking of signs on stones, clay, paper, and now digital memories—each more portable and rapidly traveling than the previous—provided means for increasingly coordinated and extended action as well as memory across larger groups of people over time and space."{{sfnp|Bazerman|2013|p=193}} For example, around the 4th millennium&nbsp;BC, the complexity of trade and administration in [[Mesopotamia]] outgrew human memory, and writing became a more dependable method for creating permanent records of transactions.{{sfnp|Green|1981|pp=345–372}} On the other hand, writing in both [[ancient Egypt]] and [[Mesoamerica]] may have evolved through the political necessity to manage the [[calendar]] for recording historical and environmental events.{{sfnp|Ray|1986|pp=307–316}}{{sfnp|Justeson|1986|pp=437–458}} Further innovations included more uniform, predictable, and widely dispersed legal systems, the distribution of accessible versions of [[sacred texts]], and furthering practices of [[scientific inquiry]] and [[knowledge management]], all of which were largely reliant on portable and easily reproducible forms of inscribed language. The [[history of writing]] is co-extensive with uses of writing and the elaboration of [[Soft systems methodology#Human activity system|activity systems]] that give rise to and circulate writing.

Individual motivations for writing include improvised additional capacity for the limitations of human [[memory]]{{sfnp|Hutchins|1995}} (e.g. [[to-do lists]], [[recipe]]s, reminders, [[logbook]]s, [[map]]s, the proper sequence for a complicated task or important [[ritual]]), dissemination of ideas and coordination (e.g. [[essay]]s, [[monograph]]s, [[Broadside (printing)|broadsides]], [[plan]]s, [[petition]]s, or [[manifesto]]s), creativity and [[storytelling]], maintaining [[kinship]] and other social networks,{{sfnp|Christiansen|2017|pp=135–164}} [[business correspondence]] regarding goods and services, and [[life writing]] (e.g. a [[diary]] or journal).{{sfnp|Lindenman|Driscoll|Efthymiou|Pavesich|2024|pp=70–106}}

The global spread of digital [[communication]] systems such as [[e-mail]] and [[social media]] has made writing an increasingly important feature of daily life, where these systems mix with older technologies like paper, pencils, whiteboards, printers, and copiers.{{sfnp|Sterponi|Zucchermaglio|Alby|Fatigante|2017|pp=359–386}} Substantial amounts of everyday writing characterize most workplaces in [[developed countries]].{{sfnp|Brandt|2015|p=3}} In many occupations (e.g. law, [[accounting]], [[software design]], [[human resources]]), written documentation is not only the main deliverable but also the mode of work itself.{{sfnp|Jakobs|Spinuzzi|2014|p=360}} Even in occupations not typically associated with writing, routine [[records management]] has most employees writing at least some of the time.{{sfnp|Beaufort|2007|pp=221–237}}