How did ascrībō shift from literally meaning 'write', to figuratively meaning 'impute, attribute'?

[StackExchange]

Without explanation, Lewis & Short jumps from

'to annex by writing, to add to a writing'

to

'B. Trop. 1. To impute, ascribe, attribute to one the cause of something'.

Etymonline fails at explanation also. How's 'write' semantically related to 'impute'?

Latin ascribere "to write in, enter in a list; add to in a writing," figuratively "impute, attribute,"
from ad "to" (see [ad-])
+ scriber "to write" (from PIE root [*skribh-] "to cut")

[Belinda]

Literacy empowers ideas. For instance content of malign gossip will cease to be interesting and eventually be forgotten, but malign gossip endures when it's written down on paper, parchment, stone, and the internet. It's odd that praise tends to be less interesting than blame.

Another example of how literacy empowers ideas is the spread of Christianity , Judaism, and Islam. In all those cases the written word was instrumental in the spread of ideas and technology. It's obvious that what is ascribed to God, Moses, or Muhammad is empowered by the written word