NEW MEDIA & WRITING: Beauty or the Beast
Interesting principle brought up by one of the speakers yesterday at the Festival. Sandi Shelton, author of several fiction and non-fiction books and articles mentioned that she felt the internet was often an enemy of the writer as we spend precious minutes surfing the web or checking email when we drift from the business of writing.
True to a certain degree, yet I feel obliged to stand up in defense of internet connection as its benefits may well balance out or even tip the scales in its favor as a boon to writers.
For one thing, research is more quickly done and readily available: a click away instead of notes scribbled for a trip to the library when you get a chance to go. For me, the function of the weblogs–all three of them–keep me writing when I might otherwise be playing mah-jong or some such time-consumer as I hit a stumbling block of white space in the narrative. I’ll mention too the wonder of the strictly online Hypertextopia which was the only way A Bottle of Beer even would have been created.
Less obvious are the resources other than clear research that the internet provides. Grammar and language tools, fine literature available to get one in the mood, images and stories that go on every single day to create inspiration.
I’d say, it’s all in how you use the web to your advantage as a writer that makes the difference. That and a heavy sense of guilt when you’ve clicked too far away from a justifiable purpose.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology