A large group of college students participating in a research study were asked, “What is good writing?” The researchers expected fairly straightforward answers like “writing that gets its message across,” but the students kept coming back to one central idea: good writing “makes something happen in the world.” They felt particular pride in the writing they did for family, friends, and community groups—and for many extracurricular activities that were meaningful to them. Furthermore, once these students graduated from college, they continued to create—and to value—these kinds of public writing.

At some point during your college years or soon after, you are highly likely to create writing that is not just something that you turn in for a grade but writing that you do because you want to make a difference. The writing that matters most to many students and citizens, then, is writing that has an effect in the world: writing that gets up off the page or screen, puts on its working boots, and marches out to get something done!