RU Sirius over at 10ZenMonkeys.com has asked 10 writers what effect they believe that the Internet has had on writers and the writing community. Very interesting answers from some very interesting authors. I especially liked Douglas Rushkoff’s response, an excerpt of which follows:
Douglas Rushkoff: I’d say that it’s great for writing as a cultural behavior, but maybe not for people who made their livings creating text. There’s a whole lot more text out there, and only so much time to read all this stuff. People spend a lot of their time reading text on screens, and don’t necessarily want to come home and read text on a page after that. Reading a hundred emails is really enough daily reading for anyone.
The book industry isn’t what it used to be, but I don’t blame that on the internet. It’s really the fault of media conglomeration. Authors are no longer respected in the same way, books are treated more like magazines with firm expiration dates, and writers who simply write really well don’t get deals as quickly as disgraced celebrities or get-rich-quick gurus.
I think that Rushkoff’s thoughts apply to many different industries and that because of the democratizing effect of the Internet there are many more options than ever before. Whether or not this will hurt the conventional publishing industry severely depends entirely upon their response to and ability to adapt with the changing times. I believe that this is true of all preexisting entertainment and information industries.
4 comments ↓
Of course the Internet is very good for a writers. As i know a lot of writers became somebody from nobody since there are millions of readers around the world can easily access to internet nowaday. Besides, the responds and feedbacs from the readers can get in just a very short time.
The Internet is certainly having a detrimental effect on writing. For example, look at the previous post’s numerous spelling and grammar errors.
The Internet allows people to be lazy. Anonymity gives leverage to those lowest common denominators who would see us drown in poor English skills.
Those few who stand up to point out the difference between “it’s” and “its”, “your” and “you’re”, “effect” and “affect”, are shouted down as “Spelling Nazis”.
These are just the mechanics, the basics of writing. How can anyone wade through all the ill-written and poorly conceived rubbish to find quality blog posts or essays? This affects more than online reading. A generation raised in front of the monitor will have a hard time recognizing-forget appreciating!- a good book.
Regarding the past comment. The same thing was said of TV, and it was pretty much true, and still is. People are all idiots in some way, they are weak-willed and stupid when allowed to be. I say more power to the Word Nazis. Some of who came up out of misery with a book in our hand and hid under the covers with a flashlight know the difference between snot-nosed whiners and those with ram rod backbones who don’t give a good shit if the world goes under in a maelstrom as long as we have the classics. Only the best survives anyway. That stuff we reach for when we need comfort and ideas, not the kind of semi-literate garbage that mulitnational conglomerates, who have in their insipid desire to brainwash readers have bought up once reputable publisher and turned into the equivalent of pimp presses for the writers with enough skill to whore their way into contracts and then spin off into sequels and sell it by the truck load to the mass market. Fiction is the sacred ground where giants tread, not a place for the merchants to hold sway. Reading is about reading and writing is about writing, though, and many of the jake-legged bloggers who wobble through this phase of writing either get better, or hopefully die. And, I hope that’s taken as a warning, because you’re really only as good as your last rip.
Yes there are a couple of typos. I can’t see so well, now that old age has made my eyes dimmer. What I’d like to know is who dreamt up this small type box? I like to write in at least 20 point and shrink it. Why doesn’t some genius create a way to do that, here? We would all be better served if granpa could see what on the screen without squinting.
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