Originally developed to record things like how many goats a person received in exchange for building a stone wall, writing slowly evolved over time to express more complex human thoughts and emotions (than the ones of livestock and their value).  The communication of human ideas, experiences, and emotions is now known as literature, and is usually split into two forms: fiction and nonfiction. Fiction and nonfiction writing relate experiences and emotions, but writers of fiction create characters and events that are mostly imaginary.  Non-fiction writers make sure that the facts of the story are based on actual events. There are plenty of ways to make non-fiction writing interesting (ever read Maus?) Even though nonfiction has to be accurate, creative nonfiction writing shares many of the literary styles and techniques of fiction.

Another form of nonfiction: analysis of literature or art in essay form.  You can examine fiction, which creates its own nonfiction piece. These essays or analyses can be social commentaries or even guidebooks to the novel itself (who wants to read The Odyssey without a little extra help?)  A good critical essay can serve as a sort of bridge of communication between writer and reader.

Effective writing is also good at making you connect to the subject of the story.  Writers use certain images that draw a certain emotion out of you, and make you empathize (or not empathize) with a character.  Good writing can also be described as good storytelling. A well written story invites you to answer the following questions: “Why do we care?  How does this information connect the reader to the world beyond and make him or her care about those connections?” If successful, good writing conveys the connections that define what it means to be human, explains the events and emotions of the past and present, promotes understanding between different people and cultures, and leaves the reader to marvel at the power and beauty of words.