The Author's Purpose in Writing

One of my readers has observed that not all of my posts are on giftedness. This is how I intend it to be. Yet, their comment led me to think I should explain why I write what I do.

My first purpose in writing is to communicate my understanding of giftedness and what I learn and observe from my children (and from my own life), as examples of this phenomenon. I think this helps young parents faced with their first gifted child get to grips with some of the issues they will face. So, in that sense, my writing fulfils a social objective of supporting others in a similar or somehow analogous situation. All giftedness leads to varying degrees of the issues discussed on my blog pages and so any parent of a gifted child can better prepare themselves for what lies ahead by coming to know what one parent of gifted children has had to go through.

That is clear and probably understood without stating it - but I thought it better to make it explicit. There are, however, other purposes in writing. I wish to record my children as they grow up, so that I might enjoy their childhood many years from now, when, perhaps the details would otherwise have been lost to my, then, aging mind. It is, therefore, an investment in my future contentment at the parenting life I have led.

A further purpose is to explore and record the personality of my children - so not just looking at their giftedness, but recording anecdotes which show them as they are, which reveal something of their personality aside and apart from their giftedness. This was not understood by the reader who mailed me. He expected all posts to illustrate giftedness - but this is not so - and why should it be? There are more aspects to a gifted child than simple giftedness: there is their developing personality, funny moments, sweet acts, thoughtful deeds, developmental milestones, their interests and hobbies, their outlook and viewpoints, their friends, their loves and their lives (all later on, one would think).

A gifted child is so much more than a gift - and so a blog about gifted children - as mine is, should also be so much more than just about giftedness - and so it is. In some posts, a broader view of my children is evident. Glimpses of their personality and individuality are to be seen. It is these, in some ways, which are more important to capture. It is these aspects of them which make them unique.

I also wish to write in a more scholarly fashion, at times, looking at the literature on giftedness, genius, prodigy, intelligence, creativity, left-handedness, child development and the like. My purpose is to distill the essence of this work to make it readily digestible to all, so that my readers might be better informed of the scientific understanding of all things gifted.

On other occasions, I write of issues that seem to have some social importance, not just to gifted people, but to society in general. This is an important function which allows me to express my views on wider matters in the world. Elements of myself are to be found in such posts.

I also write of countries that I know personally - these include Singapore, the UK, Ireland, and the USA - the four countries with which I am most familiar. My view on all such matters, is that I would always like to see improvements in each society - so if I discuss one, it would usually be to address something which could be done better.

I take no political views, in this blog, but that doesn't mean I can't comment on something a politician does or says. There is no intent to take a political stand in doing so.

I hope that goes some way to explaining what I write and why.

Happy reading all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)