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Matthew Paul

Instructor Fredrick Deboer

WRT 303, Public Writing, Section 1

14 February, 2011

Defining and Interpreting Public Writing

In my opinion there is the potential for any writing to be public writing. Public writing

can’t be constricted by genre or style. Currently, the public writing class I am involved with is

deliberating the question: “what is public writing”. I interpret writing as the documentation of

thoughts or knowledge. And, I use the terms “thoughts” as well as “knowledge” loosely and

interchangeable. For example; a person could only ever arrange writings that were not their own

and compile them in such a manner that would create new revelation of thought. If the compiled

writings created: attention, inclusion, discussion and action I would call the person who

assembled the works an author. As far as I am concerned if a person compiles other people’s

works in a new and informative way; it is the same thing as writing the 26 letters of the alphabet

in an original way that would generate an equal result.

What is considered a “public?” For the sake of making my point I will call and define

“public” as any people or person who is capable of receiving thoughts or knowledge. So, my

own personal definition of public writing is when an individual or group of people is exposed to

another individual’s/ group’s thoughts or knowledge. What I will not be able to call public

writing is the inability of documented thoughts or knowledge from being transmitted from one
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group or individual to another person. All that is required for public writing to take place is the

transmission of knowledge from one to another.

Attention is absolutely required in order to call something written, “Public writing”. But,

I don’t think it has to be on a massive scale. If I think about the most prevalent forms of public

writing I think of newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet. By design I don’t read the

paper, read magazines, watch television, or go on the internet (school assignments excluded).

How come I know about public issues?

Discussion is the reason why I am informed about anything. Everywhere you go

somebody is trying to share their personal status on popular topics. Discussing issues is how

people obtain a sense of identity. Whether it be relating to the most popular movie star having an

affair, or about an incredible international event. After discussing a topic with another person

there is a greater sense of position in relation to the subject that got your attention in the first

place. Only after discussing what has come to our attention can people experience a sense of

inclusion.

Inclusion is a serious decision made by a person. To know where you stand on a subject

is one step away from taking action. A sense of inclusion, in my opinion, requires serious

deliberation, both internally and externally. Without outside input or reaction with regards to

some facet of knowledge, a personal position or stance cannot exist. There would be no inclusion

if there were nothing for a person to compare themselves to, there would just be the way it is.

There must be some measure for a person to hold their beliefs up against in order for inclusion to

exist. Discussion is the measure that makes a person capable of being included in anything. And,

once people are included in some demos, it is up to them what to do next.

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Action does exist in public writing; it would be possible to make an argument saying

otherwise. Actions people take are almost impossible to measure unless you are affected by

them. People simply choose to do nothing. The choice of doing nothing is still an action. The

meaning of demos is informed public; the goal of public writing is to create a demos. One could

argue that if action was a necessary element in public writing, then the title should reflect the

requirements and be changed to activist writing.

What I am going to argue is that public writing is not a narrow category that applies to a

select form of writing. Rather that public writing is a kind of taxonomy made up of four

elements: attention, inclusion, discussion and action. These four elements are currently presented

in this order as they occur. I believe that the intention of the writer is irrelevant in public writing

and that the order of elements of public writing should appear as: attention discussion inclusion

and action. I think discussion should precede inclusion. This is because people shape their

identities based on the interactions they have with others. Also, the intension of a person creating

something not intended for public viewing doesn’t prevent it from becoming public. If any

written or constructed form of communicating can raise attention, cause discussion, create

inclusion and inspire action it is public writing.

For example: Thomas Jefferson as well as other famous people like John Adams created

the United States Constitution. It was a group effort. They are all in a room together. Several

men, with the intention of creating a document to the best of their ability, with the goal of putting

in place a foundation for a democratic society. Those men collectively worked on a piece of

knowledge that had the intention of being transmitted to a public. The public is everyone not

involved with the collective efforts of those people who contributed to the creating of the
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constitution. What in this process is not considered public writing? The drafts those men created

that were burned or destroyed in some way. Let us say that hypothetically Thomas wrote down

on a piece of paper what he believed would guide the direction of the country in the best way

possible. John, well he did the same. There is a bunch of people in the room and they all write

down what they think, and share it with one another. This is not public writing. It could be; but,

not yet. They all are working on a collective thought. One man shares his idea, and that idea is

different than the idea of the man sitting next to him. When the men exchange what they have

written down with one another they do so with the intention of it being part of a collective

knowledge. The parts of the whole in their collective knowledge don’t count as receiving

knowledge; the parts of the whole are creating it. You can’t be your own audience.

Hundreds of years pass, it is discovered that Thomas Jefferson smuggled out of the room

a documented thought of John Adams. He found what John said to be funny and he wanted to

keep it. He stuffed the piece of paper into a jar and that is where it stayed until it was discovered.

This initial writing was not public writing even though other people besides John, the writer read

it. The intentions of John Adams are irrelevant. The piece of paper is put into a museum. Other

people know what John Adams thought even if it took a couple hundred years. The piece of

paper caused attention, discussion, inclusion and action. Any writing that is documented can

become public writing. Intention is not an element in the equation. John Adam’s paper would

have had to cease to exist outside of the creators of the constitution in order for it to never be

able to become a form of public writing. This is why I believe that any kind of documented

thought or knowledge can become public writing; even though when it is written it was not

public writing, and the hundreds of years the piece of paper spent in existence following its
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creation were not spent defined as such. It only takes one little happening to turn writing into

public writing.

Back to why I would re-order the order of the elements that make up public writing from:

attention, inclusion, discussion and action to attention, discussion, inclusion and action.

Attention is the highest priority. There is no arguing with that. If nobody ever has the

ability to turn their attention to something that is written. You can’t ever call it public writing.

Discussion; a measure of public effect, the amount of discussion a piece of writing creates can

measure the effectiveness of the writing on the public. You could write a riveting ineffective

story about the human state that included everyone. If you can obtain knowledge in some way

than this story applies to you, it really hits home. Just because the story applies to everyone it

doesn’t mean anyone cares about what was written enough to read the whole thing or to even go

out and discuss what they read with another person. Inclusion, being a part of something;

Inclusion is an element of public writing but not the highest or second highest of priorities.

For example: a person writes an in-depth analysis of the experience involving the

terminal vegetative state. The only people that the writing would include would be vegetables,

and they can’t obtain any knowledge from what was written. Because their vegetables. But, the

book could get the attention of the medical community. It could raise a lot of questions worth

discussing in the medical field. Maybe even instigate a course of action or inaction on behalf of

the medical community regarding the vegetative state. No person that the book discusses would

ever experience inclusion as a result of the writing.

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Grey areas exist in all writing. For the most part, the public writing a person creates is

meant for the public to interpret by design. The majority of public writing is deliberately created

for the public. That is the darker shade of grey. Almost everything that is written that isn’t

absolutely destroyed by the creator lays in the lighter shade of grey. All it takes is an event to

make anything written a victim of public writing. There is no certainty in the destination of

where your writing will end up. Everything wrote is subject to audience, discussion, inclusion

and action.