This weeks reading was a chapter in Jay David Bolter’s Writing Space and was titled Writing as Technology.

Bolter believes that the role of writing is for “collective memory, for preserving and passing on human experience”.

I for one really enjoy this definition and idea of writing. I love to look at the world around me, listening and looking for potential blog post ideas. I believe that everyone draws from experiences in their own lives as inspiration to write a new story, or create a film. The best emotions spring from life experiences, love, hate, vengeance and happiness, these raw feelings are the building blocks to great writing.

Writing enables us to “arrange verbal thoughts in a visual space”. Writing is definitely therapeutic. Ask anyone who owns a diary. Putting your feelings out of your brain and onto some paper is one of the best methods organising thoughts. It’s not only calming but largely productive. Thoughts ping around our minds, doing loops, circles and often disappearing entirely, only to pop back up again at 3am and proceed to keep us awake all night. By writing things down our minds can settle and our thoughts won’t end up lost in the depths of our minds.

This reading suggests that the power of writing and more importantly the power of words is so vast it can transcend time.

It’s encouraging to think that even though our writing technologies and publication methods are changing our writing can have an everlasting impact. The idea that what I am writing this very second will one day be read. Whether it be tomorrow, next week in class or at my eulogy. Even in 200 years time. Who knows. But it’s a pretty exciting thought.