Writing is a human communication medium that includes the representation of language through symbols. Writing systems themselves are not human languages (with the debatable exception of computer languages); they are a means of transforming language into a form that other people separated in time and space can reconstruct. Although not all languages use a writing system, inscribed languages can complement and expand the capabilities of a spoken language, allowing the creation of stable forms of speech that can be transmitted in space (e.g., correspondence) and are retained over time (such as libraries or other public records). It has also been observed that writing itself can have the effect of transforming knowledge, as it allows people to embody their thinking in forms that are easier to think and potentially rework. Writing relies on many of the same semantic structures as the speech it represents, like lexicon and syntax, with the added dependency of a character system to represent the phonology and morphology of that language. The result of writing is called the text, and the translator or activator of this text is called the reader.

With the rise of human societies, collective motives for the development of writing were driven by pragmatic needs such as preserving history, maintaining culture, codifying knowledge through curricula and lists of texts that are believed to contain basic knowledge (such as the Canon of Medicine) or are artistically exceptional (such as literary canon), the organization and management of societies through the formation of legal systems, transcripts, contracts, deeds of ownership, taxation, trade agreements, contracts, etc. For H.G. Wells, the letter “made the growth of states larger than the old city-states possible. It made a continuous historical consciousness possible. The command of the priest or king and his seal could go far beyond his sight and voice and could survive his death”. For example, around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in Mesopotamia surpassed human memory, and writing became a more reliable method of recording and presenting transactions in a permanent manner. On the other hand, in both Ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, writing may have evolved thanks to calendars and political necessities for record historical and environmental events.

Individual motives for writing include an improvised additional ability to restrict human memory (e.g., to-do lists, recipes, reminders, logbooks, maps, correct sequence for a difficult task or important ritual), spreading ideas (as in an essay, monograph, broadside, petition or a manifesto ), imaginary stories, and other forms of storytelling, personal or business correspondence, and life writing (such as a diary or journal ). A logogram is a written symbol representing a word or morpheme.

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