Memorandum
To: Janel Bloch
CC: Introduction to Writing Studies
From: Tanner Elrod
Date: 9/10/2013
Re: Writing Inventory
Introduction
As a writer, one of the first questions you have to ask yourself is, “Why do I write?” The reasons for writing can range from necessity to pleasure, school work to a career in writing. Whatever reason you choose to write, you have to be aware of your audience, your purpose, and the reason you are writing. When taking inventory of your writing, you have to decide what constitute “good writing”, find your strengths and weaknesses in writing, and decide when you believe a particular writing is “finished”.

What is “good” writing?
We write because we are reacting to someone or something. While writing can feel like an isolating, individual act—just you and the computer or pad of paper—it is really a social act, a way in which we respond to the people and world around us. Writing happens in specific, often prescribed contexts. We are not just writing—we are always writing to an audience for some particular purpose. When we write, we do so because we want, need, or have been required to create a fixed space for someone to receive and react to our ideas. Understanding this social or rhetorical context—who our readers may be, why they want to read our ideas, when and where they will be reading, how they might view us as writers—governs some of the choices we make. The writing context requires writers to have a sense of the reader’s expectations and an awareness of conventions for a particular piece of writing. The context of the piece further determines the appropriate tone, level of vocabulary, kind and placement of evidence, genre, and sometimes even punctuation. In order to communicate effectively, we need to order our words and ideas on the page in ways that make sense to a reader. We name this requirement in various ways: