Errrm, why?

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There is something I've never been able to understand on this site (and others) so I'm going to ask.

Why do people try to write as though they are speaking?

I refer in particular to the practice of putting in false hesitation; this makes no logical sense whatsoever.

- I errm mean like errm this -

When people say 'errm' in speech it is because they have temporarily forgotten what they were going to say; when you write a sentence you have as much time as you like to get the exact meaning right.

It is meaningless to write in a hesitation.

Can someone explain to me why it's done?

I know its a very small point but its bugging me because we are supposed to be very logical thinkers and this doesn't seem logical at all.

I do it cause errm, i feel like uhh, doing it.

Uhh....I dont,...er, under-ssss...wait, what? Huh?


Uhm.

Why not? It comes off as sounding more natural and may give off the impression of a normal conversation.

It started in post-modern prose. Writers never wrote how people spoke. Dialogue was more like the character was reading something out rather that genuinely communicating. The Catcher in the Rye is probably one of the most famous examples that broke the mould. Salinger users the street slang of the protagonist Holden Caulfield to express a real teenage angst and narrate the story in an often confused and disjointed manner which is really what makes it true to life.

Why would you do that when it is not dialogue? Well it can be used to create rhythm, suspense, emphasis and all manner of things. It is usually done to give some insight into the thought process of the writer, in order to try to mirror the same effect in the reader. It could be mock or composite thoughts. Often when I do it, it does reflect my own effort to translate my thoughts into written word. In that respect it is a dialogue with myself.

Blame the hippies.

I find it just natural, its not a collage thesis, its like socializing with text, I want to put my personality into my words, so I type like I talk with no delete key.

consider the difference in the two phrases... (sorry non-titanic people).

"I am King of the World"

"I am ... erm... King of the World"

The second of these is a joke. The erm helps to make it obvious.

Think of them as easier to type smilies. If we could use smilies in normal conversation, I think we'd lose the erms.