Definitions of writing

Writing can be defined in its context of use. There is no normative view of writing and all written communication is a form of writing differentiated by the genre it describes. One way of looking at writing is as a socio-cultural activity in which one participates in worlds of peer groups, school, and society. More specifically, writing is the participation of knowledge societies that are in some cases, specialized. It is a series of chains of short and long term production, representations, reception, and distribution which makes it an iterative process. And most importantly, it is a distributed and mediated means of recognizing that all writing is collaborative, involving divisions of labor and forms of co-authorship (Lantolf, p. 58).

While this is one way to look at writing, there are many other ways in which we invite you to describe how you see writing to be and enacted in your own practices. By understanding and seeing how our own conceptions of writing differ and are similar, we can start forming patterns of recognition in how collaborative writing comes to be seen. By providing this resource, we intend to initiate the conversation around the definitions of writing that brings to initiate our inquiry into collaborative writing.