The National Day on Writing is an annual event created by the National Council of Teachers of English to draw attention to the variety of writing Americans engage in.

Since 2012, the Arkansas State Department of English, Philosophy and World Languages has collaborated annually with various departments, on-campus organizations and local businesses to celebrate National Writing Day Oct. 21.

National Writing Day celebrates the importance of writing in all its forms and encourages Americans to write. The day highlights the variety of ways people write every day, whether for creative, personal or professional purposes. Events are often held at schools and universities to promote writing instruction and practice, sometimes involving social media campaigns like #WhyIWrite.

Chase Weller, Writing Center director, said he loves to write in a world of new ideas.

“Writing, it’s a really important form of expression for some of us, you know, communicating our emotions or our feelings, or even our wants and needs is not the easiest thing to do out loud, especially with people,” Weller said.

Weller said the currency of writing and his hope that writing stays of high importance in generations to come.

“I do think that the importance isn’t necessarily being lost, but it’s being changed in a way people are valuing, like the more real talk more than we used to, and I definitely think that’s really cool to see, because there are some things being expressed now that I could never have shared, and people older than me definitely could never have shared it,” Weller said. 

Farhna Rashid, a graduate student majoring in Business Administration from Bangladesh, said writing impacts her life and others.

Rashid said we have this magazine and we have an arc so people can write their creative works and submit here to the arc or magazine.

Weller said many writers’ unique style is what makes writing in general special.

“I could guarantee you that all of the tutors in the Writing Center write in a different way. And I think that diversity is super important, and it helps you become a more diverse writer, a more confident writer,” Weller said. “At the end of the day, writing is confidence, and learning all of that stuff and seeing it and experiencing it gives you that confidence to push yourself a little bit further, and then that translates to other areas of your life too.”

Rashid said creative writing makes the world creative in an organized way.

“You need it every step of your life, you need writing. So rather it be for the school essays, for the cover letter, from school to job, you need writing everywhere. So it’s very important to be good at writing,” Rashid said.

Rashid said different words are important, having meaning and impact.

Arike Jones, a graduate student from Memphis majoring in athletic training said writing is very important in today’s world.

“I think that a lot of times words can be mistreated, and with the upcoming use of AI, I think that writing is becoming more and more important,” Jones said.

Graduate student Jones said she views writing as a way to introduce others to new thoughts and ideas.

“It’s the gateway to take people to another level. I think that whether it be professional writing or creative writing, it’ll outlast the writer most times,” Jones said.

Jones said writing has provided a new perspective on understanding different people’s personalities.

“Conversations aren’t always what they seem, whether that be an argument or just a discussion. I feel like writing has completely changed my perspective on those things. I think that seeing different people’s writing styles has shown me who they are.

Jones said writing often shows a person’s true personality can be shown in their writing rather than just the words someone says. 

Jones said she believes writing is crucial to realign with personal values and intelligence.

“I hope that people take away that writing doesn’t have to be this big, scary monster. It could be something as simple as taking everything that you’re thinking and putting it on paper, or as complex as doing research and really jotting down everything that you know, Jones said.

 Jones said she thinks writing is a good bridge to introducing people to what’s in your mind.

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