Starting with Omni, the authors’ writings on the final sheets of the Small Plates began to be very brief. Undoubtedly, the plates were almost filled. Indeed, Jarom had remarked that the plates were "small" (Jarom 1:2, 14). Nephi’s command to Jacob was for him to write "upon these plates" (Jacob 1:2). The plates were unique—they had been made by the hand of Nephi, as Jacob himself emphasized (Jacob 3:14). Making more plates and adding them to the Small Plates collection was, perhaps, unthinkable.
Notwithstanding the lack of space, and in spite of the fact that Omni considered himself a wicked man, he still wrote something in an attempt to satisfy the requirements of Nephi’s template for keeping the record, "[B]eing commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates."
Omni preserved the record, wrote according to command or instructions of his fathers, and passed the record on to his son, Amaron. Although Omni did not write for the spiritual benefit of his people, he stated that he fought "to preserve my people" and, perhaps for Christ’s sake, acknowledged that he had not kept the statutes and commandments of the Lord. He touched lightly on history, mentioning vaguely some seasons of peace and others in which the Nephites were embroiled in "serious war and bloodshed." Omni ended his writings with a clear acknowledgement of his duty in keeping the record: "I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers; and I conferred them upon my son Amaron. And I make an end."