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Maeghan Gough

Fredrick Deboer

WRT 303

February 14, 2011

A Conceptual Definition for Public Writing

Public writing, in its broadest sense, is any piece of writing that stirs, or provokes, an

individual to act and produce change. Although the main focus of this particular essay will be

placed on political public writing, I would like to note that there are other outlets of public

writing that are equally effective and valuable. However, in a political sense, I believe that

public writing’s main concern is to evoke a positive change; to stimulate individuals to act

differently and effectively.

Describing what public writing is is easier once you have eliminated everything that it

is not. Public writing does not include any work that is exclusive or private. For example, a

private diary or journal. When an individual writes daily entries in a diary, they are not doing

so in order to create change. For the most part, it is safe to say, the habit of writing in a diary

or journal is more for enjoyment – a stress reliever. In some cases, yes, private writing can

transform itself into public writing, but the original literature, whether it is a diary or

something similar, is not to be considered a piece of public writing. In the instance that the

composer of the diary passes away and their work is made public, it might be easy to confuse

this as turning into public writing. Although the diary becomes open to the public and

accessible for anyone to read, it is still not actually public writing because the intent for

publicity was never there. The findings in the private diary or journal may even compel
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people to take a step in the positive direction of change, as would public writing, but it will

still always be private writing. The intent was never to share with others and was never to

spark a catalyst for positive adaptations.

Additionally, any sort of social network, like Facebook, is not public writing. Because

the content that you publish on your Facebook is only seen by those select individuals you

choose to be your friends, your writing is actually private and cannot be considered public

writing. This option to choose who you would like to see your information and who you

would like to keep it private from closes the window of access to an enormous amount of

people. More specifically, the public. Although it is possible for you to spread awareness

through your Facebook, and even accomplish something like gaining support through a virtual

petition, it is still not available for the public to see, weigh in on, and, in some cases, virtually

sign. While it is important to consider what is not public writing to gain a more complete idea

of what public writing is, it is also imperative to recognize the various roles that public

writing plays.

When thinking of roles involved in writing, the roles of reader and writer may be the

most obvious that you can detect. However, there are many more that contribute to the

process of public writing. There are many more roles to consider in order to truly understand

what exactly public writing is. Personally, I engage in roles such as college student, female,

Caucasian, and sister – just to name a few. All of these roles allow me to engage in public

writing in different ways and through different outlets; that are still just as public and,

similarly, just as effective in evoking a desire for change. Primarily, I am a college student.
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This being the case, my priorities and interests differ from someone who has graduated

college or someone who has not yet entered college. I may be more interested in writing to

my community representative regarding issues of campus safety, student equality, or even

something more trivial like commuter parking. Public writing is able to help a college student

in different ways than it would help an elderly person, for example; who may be more

interested in writing to a political leader regarding issues of preserving town history, but it is

still public writing and it is still trying to evoke a positive change. Additionally, as a female,

my concerns and viewpoint of where I see change necessary is unlike that of males. While I

may be engaging in public writing by writing a letter to congress expressing that I support the

pro-life stance on abortion and am doing so in order to honor a woman’s liberty to choose the

way she would like to live her life, a male may compose an opposing letter to congress

arguing that having an abortion is, in fact, not the female’s choice to make. Just as being a

female college student will alter the ways in which I use and appreciate public writing, so will

being Caucasian.

The role of race is very important in shaping what public writing is. An individual

who is Caucasian may not even be concerned with issues of race and race equality simply

because they are not, normally, faced with much opposition or racial struggle. Because of

this, someone who is Caucasian may not be using public writing as a way to express racial

issues or prejudices and, also, may not even be reading or paying much attention to public

writing that is race based. Or, oppositely, an individual who is Caucasian may realize the

strife of a minority group and petition for advances in campus or two equality, for example.

Either situation being the case, the two individuals will have varying degrees of knowledge in
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race issues; effecting the public writing they create and pay attention to in the future. The

varying roles associated with public writing help to better define what exactly it is. And,

while speaking of roles in public writing, one has to consider what publics they are actually

addressing in their public writing – who exactly they are including, and sometimes, even

excluding.

When taking part in public writing, the variable of inclusion is something that is very

important to consider. However, it is necessary to make the distinction that, although public

writing will not always include everyone, it is still very different from private writing. The

distinction lies in the intent. Public writing is written with the intent that everyone in the

entire public has access to it, even if there are small degrees of exclusion that stem from

varying roles that individuals hold. Who is it that you are including in your ‘public’ when

you write a letter to your local congress person asking for sturdier recycling bins, for

example. Although this letter is a form of public writing and is ‘fair game’ for the public to

read and weigh in on, we must think about the entirety of people who are still, even so, not

included. This letter would not affect those individuals who do not recycle or those who are

perfectly satisfied with their recycling receptacles. More obviously, this letter would not

affect those people who do not live in the same town. In regards to this particular letter, the

‘public’ would include fellow citizens in your town, your town and city representatives, and

those who actually recycle. Public writing, even as seemingly small as street signs, speak to a

different public depending on where they are placed. Although they are a form of public

writing and, therefore, available to all, a person who never drove down ‘Victory Highway’,
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would never see the street sign. They would have no knowledge that a sign for that particular

street even existed. Public writing, although available and accessible to everyone, will still

have specific publics that it speaks most strongly to. this being said, the composer of any

form of public writing must always be conscious of who the letter’s, document’s speech’s,

petition’s, etc. ‘public’ will be.

Although public writing can take many forms, it is crucial to remember that it is still

unique and not everything is public writing. Pieces of writing created without the intent of

becoming public, or, works that exclude any amount of people, are not public writing. And,

we must try not to think of public writing strictly as being court documents and public

addresses made by political leaders. While public writing is political, it is also highly

personal. An individual’s role in society will shape they way they engage in, and

acknowledge, public writing. Public writing is a means of expression that allows an

individual, or a group of individuals, to help identify dilemmas and call local community

members, classmates, political leaders, and political activists, just to name a few, to

participate in positive action and to affect change. Public writing acknowledges the

importance of gathering people together to take positive action.