Image from problogger

What is Writing?

We engage in composition when we account for something – our own experiences, our ideas – in a visual form. We traditionally view writing as a more specific method of composition that involves words – and nothing else. In other words (so to speak), we tend to view images implemented into a text as something other than writing. Another limitation for this comes when we simply copy and paste – even if it is manual in form and not a literal copy/paste approach; we see this as simply transcribing (i.e. not writing). However, we do view certain methods of visual composition that build on preexisting works – such as storytelling – as writing.

Image from Kurtz Team

What is Research?

When using the word to describe actions taken, research indicates a person or people’s work toward finding information. More specifically, we tend to view research as actions taken toward answering a question or questions – or actions taken toward information that will later be used (by those carrying out these actions or by others) to answer a question or questions. The broad terms I’ve used do not delineate any specific form of information. We tend to think of research as looking at documents – and, naturally, thinking of documents as (digital or physical) pages. For instance, we can conduct research by looking at the construction of buildings (visual but not written, as we tend to think of research) or by listening to podcasts *inserts joke about Serial* (aural). Of course, we utilize this information for something other than simply gathering it.