Journal #2 What it means to be a writer

     I feel like it is hard to categorize who is a writer vs. who is not a writer. I suppose, one can say that the people of Shenandoah National Park are writers, since they are the authors of the letters they composed. However, at the same time I can see how one can argue against them being writers. Many of the letters did not have correct grammar or spelling. But does correct grammar and spelling categorize someone as a (good) writer? I think not. I would argue the people of Shenandoah National Park are writers. I think writers count as anyone who writes. This is different, however, than a person who writes for a career. I think there are different fields of writing just like how there are different genres of reading. People write everyday for school, in a text, in a tweet, etc. And I think this is what makes people writers. People who write words, in various ways (a musician, a tattoo artist, a poet, a tweeter, blogger, letter writer, etc.) to communicate thoughts and ideas. Writing comes across people in different ways, everyday. I do think, one common thread of everyday writing is that it comes across as text, in words. The people who produce these texts are writers. 

     The people of Shenandoah National Park are writers since they composed a text with words; in order to convey the thoughts they had about the officials and the need to clarify the rules. Many of the letters expressed the resentment they felt towards how they were seen by the park.