Nephi was a record-keeper. He was also a record-maker. This task was very important in Nephi’s life. It was extremely difficult to make and keep records on sheets of metal. It involved a lot of time, work, expense, and training. Intense focus was necessary—there were no erasers in that medium.
Nephi had left the Holy Land behind, but had brought the brass plates with him. The plates were, in a way, his connection back to the holiness, the tradition, and the prophets. Nephi was the custodian of all of that! No wonder Nephi felt a strong desire to make sure that these things would come forth at a later time. Nephi labored to teach his children. He also labored to teach them through the records that he kept. The scriptures were obviously very important to Nephi. Talk about the price he had to pay in terms of obedience!
Nephi was also a careful and artistic writer, as is evident in the chiastic structure he composed in 2 Nephi 25:24–27. Through that inverted parallel arrangement, Nephi focused all attention on Christ at the center of his most famous personal statement of purpose. See Book of Mormon Central, "What Can We Learn from 10 of the Best Chiasms in the Book of Mormon? Part 1 (2 Nephi 25:26)," KnoWhy 349 (August 7, 2017); "Why Is the Book of Mormon So Focused on Jesus Christ? (2 Nephi 25:26)," KnoWhy 484 (November 13, 2018).
Book of Mormon Central, "Why Is It Important to Keep Records? (1 Nephi 9:5)," KnoWhy 345 (July 28, 2017).