Is the Internet Good or Bad for Writers?
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The Age of (Dis)Information
Is the internet good or bad for writers?
How about for writing itself?
Is the world wide web destroying the written word and dumbing us down fast?
Recently, that question is getting increasing attention. Newspapers are rapidly going belly up all over the United States. Many major publishers are refusing all new manuscripts--not just unsolicited manuscripts but any new manuscripts--choosing instead to approach published authors and select celebrities for books they believe to be guaranteed best sellers.
Magazines are losing readers and declining fast, and kids are researching their term papers at Wikipedia, an online resource which changes from minute to minute at the passing whim of nutcases and corporate shills who may or may not be telling the truth.
People no longer write letters, they send e-mails. Some people don't even send e-mails, they "tweet".
Paper print media seem to be going the way of a herd of dying brontosauri stampeding towards a bubbling L.A. tar pit.
So what's the scoop?
Is the Age of Information a good thing or a bad thing? What kind of information are we getting online and on what terms? Is the societal cost of depending on a mutable electronic medium that is only available to people of means too high? What happens to copyright law in a medium which considers pirating noble and riffs on existing material a postmodern art form?
Are we being manipulated? Are writers being exploited?
Is information being distorted and slanted to sell us ideas and other physical crap we don't really need and shouldn't even be considering?
The internet poses unique challenges and problems for professional writers that appear right alongside unique opportunities and rewards. The Writer's Union strike of summers past was all about how to assign fair pay for internet distribution of members' original written material, and in many ways that problem was never fully solved, only postponed.Meanwhile music and film companies are still trying to sue people who download material without paying, while artists go grubbing for any kind of money at all.
How does a serious writer balance the exposure and openness afforded by electronic media with the exploitation and constant theft that comes with such exposure? Are print media dead, or just in transition? What effect will devices like Kindle have on copyright laws, royalty payments, and the success or failure of retail bookstores?
Is the written word dying before our very eyes?
Those are questions that I consider worth asking, so I thought I'd start by kicking them around here. Feel free to share your own reactions and thoughts in comments.
The Good
The internet has opened a lot of doors for a lot of people.
Without the internet, I myself probably wouldn't have a job right now. Because I live and work in a part of the U.S. that has been severely impacted by the recent global economic crisis, I started writing internet 'content' for money about a year and a half ago.
So far, so good. (Sort of.)
Michigan has the one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and even when things were better, the jobs available here were mostly in factories, in retail, or in customer service and sales. Professional jobs for liberal arts majors are few and far between in the industrial midwest, and a writer living in these parts would need to stock up on hairnets and sensible shoes even during good times were it not for the opportunity to freelance online.
If you want to become an advocate for small businesspeople, just spend eight or nine years using your advanced education in a corporate call center. (A call center which, by the way, would not even exist without the internet.)
Not only does the internet open up all kinds of freelance possibilities to anyone anywhere on earth, (while at the same time plaguing all of us with corporate call centers), it also puts us directly in touch with individual people from other nations and other parts of our own countries on a daily basis, people we would normally never meet in 'real' life.
More than a few marriages began in internet chat rooms and forums, and enduring friendships have been created too. Recent studies suggest that people with illnesses and emotional problems fare much better when they have access to internet support groups, and plenty of shut ins and disabled persons would be lost without access to the web.
The sheer volume of information available online has also had its positive effects. Although it's true that a great number of people seem to crave porn and celebrity gossip way more than statistics on the gross national product of Botswana or detailed explanations of collateralized debt obligations, it's still nice to know that if you wanted to take a break from browsing candid photos of Miley Cyrus to actually learn something about high finance or geography or politics, you could. It's all right there at your fingertips.
Internet shopping, internet banking, internet job searches, internet research--However you feel about the internet in general it's undeniable that the internet is here to stay and that the world wide web has forever changed the way we look for information and social networks.
But is the internet really good for writers and writing?
On the up side (as forums like Hub Pages clearly demonstrate), the internet has given writers access to an audience they have never before had so easily and so quickly. At the touch of a button, anyone anywhere can become a published writer and get instant feedback on their ideas and their prose. By signing up for Google Adsense, these newbies may even make a little money. (Very little.)
Gone are the days when writing for publication meant manually typing up a manuscript and doggedly editing and re-editing it, then sending it out by snail mail again and again until some editor somewhere somehow decided it was worth a look and promised to send a free copy or a check for $20 (or $2000) in six months when it finally hit the presses.
While lots of people moan about the poor quality of internet writing, the truth is that print media has never been the refuge of unrecognized genius and lyrical talent it pretends to be. Most books and magazines are written in passable or poor prose, with only a few shining like little beacons of pure aesthetic light.
Any popular book publisher will tell you straight off that good writing is the least important element of a saleable novel. Good characters, a brisk interesting plot, and a story people want to hear--all of these trump writing quality each and every time. Newspapers aim for a fourth grade comprehension level, and some of the most wealthy novelists on the planet pump out prose that wouldn't get them out of fifth grade English with a passing grade.
So the fact that lots of crappy writing is clogging up the internet is hardly a new phenomenon so far as literature is concerned, and the democratic nature of the electronic media is refreshing and and energizing. If you don't like something you read on the internet you haven't wasted $9, or $20, or $40 to read it. You can just go read something else, right then, right there. Problem solved.
But there are other problems, especially for writers who take their craft seriously and mean to pursue it as a vocation, not just a 'job'.
The Bad
The fact that writing on the net is 'free' is part of the problem, I think, and the issue is far from a solution that will make everyone happy.
Back in the day, when famous writers were first getting started and were looking to publish fiction, they had to either find a wealthy patron or start out in pulp publications or newspaper serials that had a marginal reputation and paid none too well. Although money has always been a problem for writers (and artists in general), for most of the time that print media held sway, the key to making money as a writer was to learn to tell a whopping good story in an entertaining way.
Electronic media are subtly but radically changing the focus of writing. Today, when a writer puts something together specifically for the internet, the primary focus is always on search engine courtship. You must seduce the Google. Equally important (or sometimes more important) is the degree to which prose will generate advertising revenue when it is found by searchers. At its very worst, this means that essays become dreary advertisements in disguise, stuffed with annoying keywords chosen not because they make the essay more readable or because they add some aesthetic depth or mood to the piece, but because the almighty Google spider likes them.
At least, she likes them now. Tomorrow she might hate them.Or eat them.
We never know.
Reader attention spans are also shorter. For instance, this article I'm writing now is already way too long. But in the days of newspapers and pulp fiction, people wanted length. Look at the novels of Charles Dickens. They go on forever. Part of the reason for that is Dickens started by writing serial fiction in installments for newspapers, but another part of the reason his novels are long is that people back then wanted long novels. They wanted to get lost in a story. They wanted the story to last and last.
Today, people actually keep Twitter blogs. Blogs that detail, in short bursts, exactly what they are doing each minute of each day. (I'm writing. Still writing. Still writing...)
As if we should care.
But then, that's my point: The focus of writing is different now. Much different. It's shorter, it's more narcissistic, it's more fleeting and ephemeral. I may really care a lot that you are buying some Trident gum at this very minute and the clerk has a Celtic dragon tattoo. Two minutes later I've forgotten who you are and I don't care anymore because it's my turn to blare my gum purchases and encounters across the airwaves. That is not Dickens. It's just not.
It's more like literary A.D.D.
Another problem is that of visual versus print media.
When children are small, their ability to process visual images precedes their ability to process words and sentences, and both precede the ability to read and interpret text. Because of this developmental fact, all visual media have the ability to penetrate the preconscious mind of the viewer, subtly influencing what we think and how we feel before we even know we think or feel it. When people first learn to write, they must learn structures and forms and gain a sense of what constitutes good and bad writing and what point of view is being expressed.
Yet we are taught nothing of the sort when it comes to understanding and critquing the effect visual images have on our separate and collective psyches--For example, how to recognize point-of-view in movies, commercials, and media imagery, how to identify the ways in which our emotions and thoughts are influenced and shaped by what we see. The current preference for the visual over the written has left us much more vulnerable as a culture to manipulation and much less capable of critical thought. While I don't really see any great conspiracy to dumb down the planet, it does appear to me that this trend is doing exactly that.
You get a sense for the degradation of written thoughts and forms by the rampant use of the internet term 'content.' We're no longer penning short stories, essays, articles, scripts, or dialogues, we're 'producing content'. An essay is a written form that can take a lifetime to perfect, and when mastered, can rival the best poetry. 'Content' is what I find in my cereal box when I open it up and get ready to pour some in my bowl. 'Content' is what I leave in my toilet before I push the little lever that sends it down the drain.
Finally, opening up the writing of internet words, thoughts, and 'content' to a global marketplace has driven down the profitability of good writing, and has even reduced the need for good writing. There's no denying this. When I was taking creative writing classes in the 1970s, lots of aspiring writers earned a penny or two a word by writing for True Confessions magazines or pulp fiction digests. That was considered bad money back then, but it was easy to get published in those venues and it bought the macaroni and cheese for another week or two while you worked on your magnum opus.
Now, forty years later, one or two cents a word isn't half bad for writing internet 'content'. In fact, a writer who can get that much and work steadily too is at the top of his or her game. It's a grind, basically, and one that really pisses off professional writers on either coast who work for TV or movies or dying print media, because it drives down their wages and will eventually make what they do obsolete, or at least much more poorly paid.
You can't blame them for being mad. Or for picketing. Even though it won't help.
On the other end of that spectrum, the potential for corporate interests to make more money than ever before and keep most of it for themselves by shifting their focus away from paper and onto the web is enormous. And unlike the days in which writing was done with ink and paper, most writers do not possess the same skills that an internet technician does. Understanding a sentence and understanding how the internet works are two different kinds of understanding, and they don't necessarily overlap or have much to with each other.
Guess which one is winning right now?
Well, I better shut up. As I said earlier, this is already way too long.
But, I think the world is changing for writers, and maybe not in a good way.
What do you think?
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Comments
Yes, what a voice. That was pretty cool. :)
When the unwashed masses decide what's worth clicking and what's not with absolute anonymity, we'll be overwhelmed with hot indian chicks, how to supercharge your wiener, and lose 20 lbs magically for only $19.95. That is the shit people actually care about.
I think good and bad both ways. Good in way people can express their wrting skills
Thanks for stopping by lgali. :)
hot dorkage--I know, it's not very inspiring. I've been thinking a lot about where I want to go with what I'm doing in the time I have left on the planet, and in looking at my options, I realized that even though I have this great community here at HP and make a little chump change writing copy, other doors are slamming shut. The more I thought about it, the more alarming it seemed to me. Thank you for commenting.
You know, I think the masses of people out there are getting smarter. For way too long, we have relied on a mediocre media, doing a half ass job at writing and reporting. Just look at what "People" mag. has turned into. Garbage. The ones going belly up, probably should've gone by the way side years ago, we were just to dumb to realize it. Thanks for the very intriguing hub topic.
Thanks for stopping by RK! I don't know that the masses are getting smarter or dumber, but from where I sit it looks like the latter. I mean, where I live, fewer than half the kids who start high school graduate. That would be no big deal if they had something productive to do, but they don't--that's half the the reason they drop out. They know they can dish up french fries just as easily without a diploma as with one. (Or sell meth. Or make it.)
I think it's depressing and I'd like to see it change. I don't think the internet and cell phones and texting and twittering and video gaming is really helping our collective intelligence all that much. It keeps us busy alright, but it's kinda stupid.
Another great Hub, Pam.
As you know, I am in a similar situation workwise, so the internet has given me an income. The problem is that modern culture wants everything at rock bottom price. The sad thing is that they pay a dollar for an article and then complain when it is not written well. No sympathy here :)
Mind you, I reckon that there will always be a place for quality. It is just a matter of finding a good niche away from the masses. Get that book written, Pam - you have guys like Misha and Sunforged who will be delighted to show you how to market your talent, so take the chance ;)
Hi Sufi,
Thanks. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. It's not that I'm not grateful for the 'content' work I get, but more and more I wonder if it's the best use of my energy. I do want to write a book and maybe this is just my way of backing into writing it.
I often have to talk myself into doing things (on paper) before I actually do them. :)
Thanks for your thoughts on this. It would be great if we could get a bit more $$$ for what we do, wouldn't it?
It would be nice. The problem that I have at the moment is that I either have too much work or none at all.
Going to make a deal with you - I have one book to finish off, then will be starting another about the local area, hopefully next month. Once I start, I will bet a bottle of Ouzo against a bottle of Jack that I finish before you.
A bit of mutual motivation :)
You're on!
I could use the motivation. Let me know when you start and we'll race. You will win, but still, it will help me to have a push.
I have the same feast or famine problem. Lately I've been trying hard to only go after projects I actually think I might enjoy. It's cut down my income a tad, but it's a lot less frustrating. Mostly I get financial articles or gardening, and I like both those topics, so it's working out.
I think having a 'niche' specialty or two helps. It's easier to show I can do it and it's easier to get a better price and more interesting work.
Sounds good - I hope to receive a signed copy!
I know what you mean - I have been writing some philosophy papers recently, which I enjoy, but they are very time consuming. I also have some article mill stuff to bang out - easy but dull. It is hard to get motivated about septic tanks and duct cleaning :(
Just about weathering the storm at the moment - things should get better over the next year or so. The new Adsense should dissuade some of the spinners and the keyword soup articles.
Yeah, Adsense changed its policies on keywords, hallelujah! Now clients often don't want them used more than once, which is a big relief.
Having small goals helps. My goal the first year was to make anything at all. The second year I wanted to double it, and I more than doubled it. This year I want to double last year and write a book. I feel like if I always set a managable goal it keeps me less frustrated. :)
Agreed - any business takes 2 - 3 years to set up, so there is no panic. I also make business cards for a few of the locals, so that helps to keep things ticking over.
A lot easier in Greece - the cost of living is not as high as the US/UK. I don't envy you guys :)
Very interesting article and though provoking information. I think the internet will be more of a voice in the future and writers will be a large part of that voice. Writers write and the internet has opened a new door for their exposure.
wait, the internet can tell you how to supercharge your weiner?? I'll have to look into that. In all seriousness, I'm a huge fan of newspapers going belly up and getting online. For the most part, the major rags are pretty much just propaganda arms of the corporate elite. Even the new york times, which is just a well written apology for super rich scheisters and politicians. They also have a challenging crossword. The crossword is really the thing ill miss the most. hopefully will shortz will go freelance online. one good thing, less paper getting thrown out. think of the forests will save going fully digital.
Hi Pam,
Thiank you for an objective hub. Its a hub which presents multiple dimensions without being judgemental.
I believe there are multiple contradictions to the state of a writer which you have clearly included as part of your hub. I feel that with the increase in number of writers, there is also increase in number of ads looking for writers :-DThe two aren't going hand in hand.
Everybody thinks they can write if they are familiar with the language. The importance given to quality, grammar and structure of content doesnt seem to be a concern.
As you rightly mentioned, 'content' doesnt seem to have boundaries- you twitter, you blog, you hub, you freelance - does it all sum up to you becoming a writer of credibility? No, not necessarily.Most of the written word online remains unscrutinised.
Indidvidual originality is not maintained again due to the excess of available write ups.
Starting and sustaining business for a serious writer such as yourself is definitely going to become challenging.
But let us not discount the awareness that hubs like this spread. Most publishers wouldnt accpet your work unless they do a thorough backgorund check.
About people becoming dumb, the less said the better ;-) I have noticed that school children here (specifically in the US) spend more hours than required on the net getting innundated with data, distracted with the multiple options available online from music to online games and keep getting defocussed from their studies.
keep writing such thought caffeine!
Cheers!
Excellent treatment of a subject that begs for greater attention, pgrundy. The answer to your question, I think, is "both good and bad." The Internet makes research much quicker and easier for all writers, but for many it allows publication of poorly written, badly researched and sometimes even sloppy, unsubstantiated and plagiarized "content."
In my opinion, there will always be a need for good writers. But the Internet will have to grow up -- and I think it will -- over time. Newspapers achieved great success by scrupulously separating their news reporting from their editorial policies and from their advertising departments and management. There were right wing newspapers and left wing newspapers, but the news (in good newspapers) remained objective.
It's often impossible today to rely on information obtained from the Internet because there are little to no standards that require sites to accurate, competent or even honest. I believe this eventually will be worked out.
But, ultimately, good writing will rise to the top. In time, ways will be found to compensate the best writers more appropriately. Someday writers on the Internet will not be required to become computer geeks as well.
You ask what I think? Cool. I think you're right, about the good and the bad. The bad looks ugly, and I blame the access of just about anyone, myself included, to this mighty medium. The good looks like you, and I'm eternally grateful that just about anyone anyone has access to this mighty medium :-)
Shorlty, and without any training or sophisticated skills, we all recognize the good and the bad. Most of us recognize, too, that the good needs to compete with "content". I'm mostly fine with that, I'm free to choose what "content" I access, we all are. If I spend time reading about gum someone is chewing, that's my choice and ... then you're right in saying that the world is numbing itself. Even so, I'm glad this medium allows for great voices that I would otherwise never get to hear to be heard.
The world will continue numbing itself, with or without those voices, BUT at least there's the chance of some un-numbing when you get to hear those voices. That's really good.
Thumbs up as usual, Pam. Lots to think about.
I have a strong slant on this because I'm one of the shut in, disabled people for whom the Internet has vastly improved my life. It's also created a lot more bottom feeder venues for beginners. For me it goes hand in hand with the Print On Demand industry for print books by amateurs.
That's no longer just the province of fairly wealthy middle class heirs who'd rather write than work or who want to have a novel or two for status self published (and the successful entrepreneur like my father who could invest $10,000 in his railroad book and go into a second printing, earning $40k or so on each of the two he did). It's cheap.
Internet advertising is cheap too. It's got so many benefits. As someone who's made that transition in working on my oil pastels website, I'd have to say it's just another medium. Television did not stamp out the book. Neither did it destroy the movies. People are now buying movies to keep at home though and to me that's a very cool thing, much better than my not being able to get out to theatres. It may not be the big screen but I actually get to see them.
My emails are actually often a bit longer than the letters I wrote in the old days. I was an avid correspondent and would send people 20 or 30 page letters. I still do that with email and don't need to buy stamps. You can find the garrulous -- they're everywhere. And the ones who'd rather have everything chopped down to captions and pictures.
I don't think it'll kill either the art of writing or the print book. What it has done is allowed people with less resources to actually market their books. After that it does still need to have a gripping story, good setting, great characters and snappy dialogue. Genius good writing only seems useful to me if it's actually saying something or telling a good story -- no matter how brilliant an essay defending a conservative racist viewpoint might be as near-poetry, it'd still revolt me on its theme and purpose.
Content -- a lumper's word that encompasses everything from essays to poetry to how-to articles (a specialty of mine), only that. There are always a few new terms sliding in and out. I've seen that for decades.
It's made things more accessible, and that's something I am glad about. That much of what's accessible is the same dreck that filled tons of bad magazines, kook newspapers and lousy books in print is no great surprise though.
Keyword stuffing can get very annoying. I find that in order to write for my oil pastels website occasionally I do have to distort what I'm writing, but some of that is choosing a keyword that naturally comes up reasonably often. I think though that the system I'm using over at http://www.sitesell.com is a lot saner about it, the tricks aren't that hard to work in with a good article and don't turn it completely to rubbish.
Keywording is labeling -- it's specifically that so that a program can tell that this particular page of prose is about the keyword's topic. It just makes something more indexable. So the art of choosing the right descriptive keyword so that a human being doing the search isn't tearing out her hair looking for an art lesson in a review of an art instruction book or vice versa is one I'm starting to get a knack for.
I've been getting good traffic and with that, I know what I'm doing is building up a strong publicity engine for my novels. I know a good many SF authors have put their good pro print novels' entire texts online as downloads and wound up selling tons of them because people do still like reading a print book better than reading on a screen -- it comes down to comfort, for some things physical books are more convenient. Also for things people want to keep, physical books are more permanent.
I don't think it's driving down the quality of language though. Shifting the style slightly but not driving down quality because those few who can write really well are still going to wind up making a living on it and most people on their way to that need to find Soft Markets. You can't get softer than the Internet, so it opens the entry level possibilities wider than they've ever been.
Just before the emergence of the Internet, even the print media got lenient. There came a time when just about anybody could publish a book. And now, the Internet has opened its doors to "authors" and authors. :)
The internet is good. It does bring information overload...
The electronic media did bring about a certain 'dumbing down' of content, but what I find interesting about the Internet is the resurgence of writing...good, bad or indifferent...people are actually taking the trouble to put their thoughts together where once they might have spent their free time slumped in front of the television.
I think the good thing about the internet, is that more people are trying their hand at writing than before, and it definitely does encourage reading!
I think the internet has encouraged more people in trying their hand in writing, and perhaps strengthened the skills of a few. Oh, wow, I just looked up the comment above me by cindyvine, and she said, the same thing I had just finished typing! LOL! So, we both agree on this! :)
I have to go with VioletSun and cindyvine. My writing has lifted because of the calibre of people here, which includes yourself Pam. Though I can see exactly where you're coming from. It is the information age and it's getting splattered everywhere, good and bad.
I tend to think the written word is in transition. Any time there is a glut of something, there usually follows some way to differentiate quality. Writing sites that once welcomed any old thing are, more and more, raising standards; and aiming to attract better writers. That gives better writers an edge. I think there will be a gradual elevation of the whole online writing picture.
As far as books and magazines go, I think much about our whole society has, in the last couple of decades, been too much about superficial and eye-catching stuff. As you said, books aren't about excellence in writing. They're about what sells. I tend to think some of our problems in the economy are rooted in a "chickens-coming-home-to-roost" phenomenon, after decades of valuing showy, artificial, things/people. These days a lot of people don't want to pay for slanted news or $5 magazines that are nothing but glossy pictures of models, with little substance in terms of reading. Newspapers are going to have make changes (or go out of business). Magazines will have to figure out that people want more substance for their $5 (or at least that they don't want to pay that much for their glossy photos of models).
Between the offline economy/world and online world, I do think there's a lot transition; and I think the economy has contributed to a lot of the direction online writing has taken, because people are trying to supplement their incomes.
Writers do need to decide between aiming their work at Internet "values" or aiming for excellence, as you said. I think, though, there are only so many "more of the same, mediocre, Internet, articles" the world will want to accept before expecting something more.
It almost seems to me that the whole picture is just such a giant mess, the next natural step will be for some kind of automatic "sorting" and organizing to start taking place. I think that, as with anything else (whether that's things like too many engineers, too many bachelor's degrees, too many kids wanting to go to state colleges, or too many people trying to make millions in real estate); standards will get tougher, the "fat" will get trimmed, cream will eventually rise to the top, and (drum roll please) we'll have gotten through the transition and discovered things in a new order.
Oops, sorry. I must have hit "comment" twice.
Good article Pam,
You shared some wonderful thought provoking information. So, I just shared it with my twitter friends. We all need to sometimes step back and look at the direction we are going in. Thank you for sharing what was on your mind with all of us.
invention of the printing press led to an explosion of production of books -- and led to the Church keeping a list of "dangerous" and "heretical" works. The idea that anyone could publish anything -- and the recognition that publishing houses were out to make money, not arbitrate on or censor content, frightened many who believed that misinformation would quickly spread. we learned how to distinguish good content -- indeed, we can't define for ourselves what is good without reading a lot of crud, too. My mum's headmaster told her to read everything -- everything, from labels to encyclopedias -- in order to develop her critical analysis skills.
Having said that, there is so much being published now that it can feel overwhelming. we have to accept the fact that many readers will not find our work, and, of those who do, many will not recognize what is competent -- or lacking. Great read; i wonder if the bottom line might not be this: we should write and read everything we can or want to; plenty is preferable to dearth.
A great read. I think that the internet has open more doors than it has closed. The simple truth is we have a place that we can learn more and express our thoughts through this media and the FREEDOM to do so. Remember you chose what to click-on.
Wow! Thank you for all your thoughtful and excellent comments! Yesterday, after I got done chatting with Sufi here, my daughter and grandson arrived to spend the night. He's four, and they just headed home. How did I ever raise three children? I had a wonderful time but I'm exhausted!!!!
Then, checked in at HP and found a gazillion comments. :)
Life is good.
Hi, Pam- No one has mentioned this, but I really appreciate what you have said here about visual education--or lack there of. I do not understand why this has never been given MUCH more precedence in schooling. Instead, those who are inclined toward this area sort of have to find there own way. Others don't at all. Yet understanding visual communication is extremely important now (and it always has been).
Internet is in its infancy. What William said about newspapers is true--but they have perfected themselves over 100's of years, too. Yes, there is a lot of crap on the net. But the same critical thinking skills and analysis is still necessary in understanding--in this, I'm with Teresa. The crux of the matter is educating the individual--now anyone can be an 'expert,' or a 'writer' but most don't have the skill set many of us have have worked so hard to achieve. And good writing and reading always takes work.
Me--I drift in and out of things, but am upset with myself for what seems a bit like an internet induced lack of focus--for yes, it takes focus for large projects or intense projects like poetry. I write copy all day at work and I sometimes just feel drained of, lol, 'content.' I can produce a passable prose any day of the week, but to get to the meat of things I need to go deeper & I sometimes can't get there. And getting there is where the real meaning is at--never the $ we make writing stuff about NCAA tournament parties or what have you (at least for me).
Love the illustration of that typewriter, Pam. Damn, if he doesn't look like how I feel some days, :)!
One of the problems is that good writers don't necessarily write helpful content. (some of the best writers are in advertising. QED). I think that good writing will always float to the top, but most of it will be about garbage.
Pam, reading this hub was a joy. I did not realize there were that many angles to consider. Thank you for this clearly written and thought provoking hub. So glad you covered the visual learning. I have 3 yo twin granddaughters who learn differently, and so endorse what lita sorensen said as well as the other great comments. Well done as usual Pam.
Jeez grundy, like I don't already have enough shit to worry about! I think I'll just start checking realtor dot com for rental caves in the Himalayas.
Actually, I think William F. Torpey and robertsloan2 summed it up pretty well.
Beyond that, things being as they are and heading in the direction we both seem to see, I'm not sure it really matters all that much.
Things could go so many ways, speculation is getting difficult.
At least one thing remains consistent however. The quality of your writing continues to be superb.
Hi Lita--I taught a course on film for a couple years at the university extension here. People would sign up for the course and then get angry that they were required to interpret and criticize films, look for point of view, ask themselves questions like, "why were these images chosen over others, why this scene from this angle--how is the effect different from doing it another way?" and so forth. The most common enraged comment was, "Movies are supposed to be fun!" I mean, people melted down totally over it. Sometimes people would burst out angrily when I merely told them I taught a class like that. I've never seen anything like it.
I think it goes to the pre-conscious nature of imagery. Just like it's upsetting for some people to look inside themselves psychologically, the very idea that something might influence their thoughts or feelings underneath their conscious radar alarms them and many respond with anger--at ME--for just bringing it up!
I sometimes feel like I get really depleted by the working stuff I write too and neglect creative writing. Haven't written a short story in ages. I'm not sure the world is any worse off for that, but I might be! lol!
Paraglider--"One of the problems is that good writers don't necessarily write helpful content." What an extraordinary statement. I'm not sure what you mean. It would seem to me that if it's 'good' writing then by definition it would be helpful, otherwise the quality isn't there. A well-constructed sentence that doesn't convey the information it is meant to convey isn't good writing.
What I am whining about here is not the dearth of creative writing or lovely adjectives on the web so much as the tendency of the focus on money word by word to change the focus of writing itself. Until the internet came about, writing (except for advertising as you mention) did not focus so intensely on ad revenue unless it was an ad.
I do agree though that there are great 'content' writers who write excellent prose about crap. I flatter myself on my best days and believe that that is what I do now for money. Write the best prose I can about crap, for money.
Earnest--Thanks for stopping by! After running around with my daughter and four-year-old grandson for aa day and a night, Bill and I spent seven hours breaking down pallet lumber. I have muscles in my body that hurt today that I didn't even know I had yesterday.
CWB--Good to see you--I know what you mean, I'm nearly ready for one of those caves myself. Unemployment is just under 13% in our state now and getting worse by the minute. I can only freak out about it so much though. Nothing to do now by plow through it seems. Thanks for your thoughts here. :)
Yes, my coment was a bit cryptic. I really meant that many of the most competent writers are wholly owned by some person or concern who determines what they should write about. But that's probably no more true of the Internet than of conventional publishing.
Oh I see what you mean. Lita is in that enviable situation (I mean enviable in that it results in a regular paycheck). I have a relative who also is lucky enough to be so employed. You're right though--even publishers of paper media can be very controlling and so the writer ends up writing something he or she never would without the heavy-handed editing. I knew a guy who wrote Harlequin Romance novels with his wife under a pseudonym. The publisher provided and outline and they just plumped it up with words. I think a lot of pulp novels are written that way.
Hi Pam,
I can relate very well to what you're saying here. If we don't do something about it, good writing may not only be an endangered specie but may be gone. But I think, hope is from writers themselves. Throughout history, a movement or something usually comes up to solve an issue that confronts a particular sector. Society will always need good writers and it seems that the destiny of good writers is to starve to give to the world that kind of writing that is not made mediocre by expediency and compromise.
well pgrundy,let me say that you are one of my favorite writers on hub-pages,I don't know why you haven't put out a book yet,because its obvious that you know what you're doing.Did you know that legally blond started as a ebook?legally blond went from a ebook to a movie so that's very good.I haven't hubbed in a while because I'm working on my first ebook,my ebook is basically short stories dealing with horror and drama.I'm writing it from the heart and I am not even trying to put keywords or any of that kind of stuff into my stories.I'm writing these short stories to entertain people,when I finish I'm going to publish it either on amazon or lulu or I just might make a web-page and sell my first book myself.That is the good thing about the Internet I can write and publish a ebook about almost anything I want.I don't have to worry about someone deciding whether they like my book or they hate my book and therefore they are not going to publish it.based upon how they feel controlling my creative destiny,because most of the people making decisions about who and what to publish in the real world are not writers anyway!they are business people running a company thinking about how much money they are going to make off of your ideas!even Stephen king was rejected and he is a legend now,so I'm glad the Internet is providing a chance for writers to have their work published because writers write and now they can publish their novels are short stories for the entire world to enjoy without having to deal with real world publishing house red tape.
Thank you for your comments Francia! It's good to hear from you here.
bill yon--that' such a good idea, what you are doing. I have a book idea and I've thought of putting it up on a website, not as an ebook, but as a serial, kind of like the old newspaper 'cliffhangers.' I hope you post the link when you are finished wriring your stories--I'd love to read them. :)
"I flatter myself on my best days and believe that that is what I do now for money. Write the best prose I can about crap, for money."
Pam! Don't make me scream, please! You have an idea for a book, go write, I'll buy a copy! Just do a bit a day or whatever it takes... I believe in you, Peter, sorry, Pam!
Lordy. I wrote a humongous comment a couple of days ago. I guess I forgot to post it. I HATE it when that happens. Couldn't possibly write it again. Basically it said, blah, blah, blahblah.....blahabla...blah blah....Good Hub!
:) I believe Paraglider may have some very sharp eyes concerning my QED internet writing, lol, if he comes back and sees this...
I actually work in PR at my day job-where I can produce feature type articles (as well as copy), and that is always has been somewhat satisfactory to me--I write across a pretty broad spectrum. There always is that thing where you have to support yourself, but you want to do what you love as well--I always thought that the ideal situation would be to be a professor, but here is Pam & also at times Teresa saying that isn't necessarily so. So, I believe there is always, always this tension of a day job--probably necessary. Because sometimes that feeling of being trapped is necessary, if that makes sense, to move you.
Of course, I always feel the drive towards more artistic and larger projects--books, my book of poetry, long put off. Hubpage concerns have been somewhat helpful in rekindling that artistic spirit--for whatever reason. lol But it certainly isn't a substitute for the kinds of projects I should be focusing on. In fact, for whatever reason--it has caused a lack of focus. But of course the right kind of drive to utilize any energy established has to come from within. I recognize that. And actually, thank you, Paraglider. ;)
What an awesome hub! Filled with a lot of very useful information and very informative.
Me little mate Ag sed I bedda get over ear and help ya with ya spellin blues that ewes bean makin. But I reckon he was just pullin me leg.
Well i reckon im gonna be a riter, its a hell of a lot ezier than shearing them boody sheep . Let me tell ewes!!!
I have a friend who's a published writer for over 10 years. Her writing career dwindled when both mobile phones and Internet caught the attention of everyone.
hairy A.S.S.???? lol! Well, sheep need love too. :)
queen cleopatra--That's not surprising. I think it's hard to sell articles for print that it used to be--and it used to be hard.
talkin abart love, sweetie i no times are tuff so im startin a collection for a new type riter for ewes, in place of that one up the top. no one else got the hint but your friendly hairy ass did. She'll be hunkiedorrie.
;-[)
Here's what's good and bad about the internet for me:
Good: Doing research in my pajamas.
Bad: So easy to become distracted. For instance: I should be writing right now.
I'd also like to say that while the tree-hugger in me acknowledges that perhaps the internet is saving a certain amount of forests, no one will ever be able to convince me to give up the sensory experience of snuggling up with a real book made from paper and ink, and a writer's blood, sweat and tears. I read to vanish briefly to a better world. The internet simply can't replace that.
Just like with most things there are good things and bad things that come from it. The internet has brought so much to our fingertips, but yes much of it may not be accurate. Those that want to end up writing good content will ensure that the info they are finding in their research is accurate. Plus we need to teach our kids to stick to research sites and others that are more factual and less joe computer user wanting his little bit of fame.
Pam
Lots of magazines and newspapers are going out of business because people have pared their advertising budgets to the bone, so it's not just competition from the internet, although I'm sure it's had an impact.
Good quality writing will always find an audience, particularly when the 'voice' behind it is as original and compelling as yours. It's just a shame that the excellent articles you produce aren't more profitable, and more widely read. You write equally as well as the columnists in newspapers here in the UK, and I'm sure that's probably true for the USA also. Never mind writing a novel if your heart isn't in it. A book of columns just like those you post here on hubpages might just as easily provide your Susan Boyle moment.
Very thought provoking Hub! I think that the Internet has made our world smaller in many ways and for the most part improved our daily lives here in the US.
I still enjoy reading a book, the newspaper on occasion - although it has been reduced in my area for the exact reasons you talk about.
Things are rapidly changing around us and there's no stopping it now.
Another good Hub - very thought provoking. We read books when we have time, and there is still quality writing and a wealth of talented new writers. But we are both busy, and like the 'popcorn' aspect of the Internet. Also, the Internet connects us to people around the world, and that feels like it ought to be a good thing. Not sure about quality writing on the Internet. We write a website, and know that people have a very short attention span, so our writing has become more succinct (that's the positive way of describing it). We usually ignore key words, and write about what we like. However, we do want people to keep coming back to our site, so we try to respond to what people read, so we are not 'pure artists'. In our experience, what people like of our writing is how to save money (no surprise, given the current economy) and reading about trivial details about us. The latter did surprise us, as we think we lead rather mundane lives. But maybe that's because in the past few years media in general has concentrated on the everyday lives of fairly everyday people. So, you could argue that the Internet plays a part in the general 'dumbing' down of society.
pgrundy,your serial cliffhanger idea is a fantastic idea!As far as my book I'm five pages in with my first short story kinda horror action,I'm pacing myself to complete one story a month four stories in all.I'm also trying to come up with a good pen name to use so I might use my user name BILL YON or I might come up with something else.I've already rewritten the beginning twice so needless to say I'm excited about this and at the same time very nervous for some reason anyway let me know when you get your site up and I will must definitely check it out.
Thanks for an engaging and debatable hub. I love your passion. A (Copy)Writer myself, let me share my views.
1. Internet is most certainly a revolution, by virtue of its immensity and accessibility. These are its intrinsic characteristics, but when people choose to describe it in other ways, they are largely speaking from their own experiences. The same can be said of TV and Mobile Phones, and their influence on all of us.
2. Despite the Internet, my reading habit - the quantum and type of stuff that I read - has remained unaltered. Though I do read on the Internet and download (only free books, say, from http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page) to an extent, I continue to buy books, fiction and non-fiction, for my reading pleasure and also to be able to provide them for the use of others.
3. As to many other aspects of the Internet, I agree with 2patricias, Amanda Severn, Erick Smart, anonymous girl person, Lita Sorenson and others. I also feel strongly that it is our duty to teach and guide not just our own children, but the younger generation in general, in the matter of what to read and how to read. I know it takes a lot of patience on our part, but we should still do our duty.
4. Professionally, Internet has been a good thing for me. Thanks to my website, I have got writing assignments in Tamil, my mother tongue, from UK and Canada. Most of my professional writing is in English, and this opportunity to write in Tamil is a most welcome break. The remuneration has been good, too.
5. You conclude by saying: I think the world is changing for writers, and maybe not in a good way. I disagree. Commercially speaking, it has perhaps become tougher and more challenging. This is something that we must all welcome. In terms of quality writers and quality writing, there has always been a plentiful supply. I am glad about that, and sometimes use it as an excuse for not bringing myself to write a novel or a collection of short stories. Reading a good book is so much joy and easier, and when there is an awful lot of good stuff to read, where is the time to write?
Vaidy, those are great points--thank you for sharing them. You are right about #5. Challenge can be good, and if it is so easy to put off creative projects and say, "I have no time," when really, we could make the time. Writers have always had to make the time.
Also, that's very exciting, writing in Tamil. Admirable too. I can barely remember English half the time, and it is the only language I speak!
like your hub
Hi pgrundy. Nice of you to ask, What do I think?
I think while I sat here reading the good bad diliberation you quandered over, with writing and the internet; which by the way, you tweeked very well into reader reaction, and then you raised this hub to high score, not to mention you have gained bountiful comments, with possibly a few good keywords:
I think that writing is working for you in a good way.
And, if you dont mind me saying so with another note on what I think; I dont beleive writers are being manipulated or exploited with the internet. As far as I can see, writer or otherwise, this day is named Tuesday and it is As the World Turns.
The problem is with change, not the internet or with words. Its about being prepared.
Thanks for your thoughts newsworthy. It seems your views are widely shared and I appreciate them.
I don't feel manipulated at all, but I do think the internet is driving down pay for writers in the same way globalization is driving down pay for all kinds of other workers. That's only a problem for people in the U.S. and other developed nations who still have a high cost of living but can no longer command high wages easily. But then, we had our turn I suppose! I can't complain. As you point out, I'm having quite a good time online and making a few cents too. :)
It seems that the web has made writers of lots of people - or at least people who think they can write. One might think that the information age would be a field day for writers, BUT on the other hand, one might think that the written word has become somewhat saturated.
I think that good writing skills along with creativity will always prevail in the end.
Very Very nice and active hub. I should not call it hub but i should call is sort of debate going on here :).. So many comments. I am thinking of what i should write..I will definately add more after coming to conclusion
Thank you for commenting stayathomejobs and Raky. I appreciate you both stopping by. :)
I think you make a lot of good points concerning writing. I write for the web also. Writing articles, PR and such takes a lot of time, which doesn't leave as much for writing stories, but that is nothing new. But it is a living of sorts.
People's attention spans have definitely been shortened by the Internet and TV before that. Still maybe there will always be a core group of people that like to read for the pleasure of the written word and the writer's style.
I know someone 50 years old that just got into reading because his pastor recommended he read The Shack and he enjoyed it. You never know what can happen. At least one new happy reader is on the lose.
Hi Deltachord--Yes I feel kind of like that about it, like it's a living of sorts and for that I'm grateful. I do often feel that it's hard to get the pay I feel it is worth, because now we compete with the India and China and places where it's not so expensive to live, but then, I think about sitting in a cubicle again and I cheer myself right back up. Good luck!
Writing is an art form, and as such, I feel it is an obligation to say that the amount of money an artist makes for creating something new is not as important as that creation; I don't really agree that the artist is exploited, but I can say that an artist who is willing to sell out will always be exploited. It's in the nature of the business. In addition, people use the internet at their own risk, and false information has been made more available to greater audience. This would be unfortionate, however, I can hardly say that this is a new or recent phenominom. William Randolph Hearst, for example, while running a newspaper in San Francisco, Ca. lied constantly, in order to recieve more readers. He was successful. Nonetheless, this was an enlightening read.
Brilliant hub. IMHO you have hit the nail on the head regards the "dumbing down" scenario. Some might argue it's just a new "skills set" coming through...have you noticed how your children can just "do" all this new fangled technical stuff? And, can you understand some of their "speak"?
The Internet makes evolution happen many, many times more quickly than previously, so the pace of change gets faster and as we get older, I think we tend to get left behind somewhat.
The younger amongst us may argue we are being over nostalgic for a bygone age (at the risk of being controversial).
But, the bottom line is the Internet is changing the world and it does appear that a dumbing down in certain areas is a "by product", however, skilling up in others is the other "by product".
My life partner is a writer, so I would like to think, as has been suggested here, that "real" writers will always be in demand. I think, as we preceive them here, they will during my lifetime. However, the nature of what is classed as a "real writer" will also continue to charge at a rapid pace!
The only thing that's constant is change, and we have to deal with it, at whatever speed it's thrown at us and however much we don't like it! Hey-ho, smile and be happy :>)
michaellang49 - Depends upon your point of view. I would argue that technical and academic writers are not artists but technicians. Therefore, we have not all 'sold out' - that is quite a sweeping generalization that you made.
Not keen upon the phrase 'selling out' anyway - even artists need to eat and pay the bills. Agree with you about the rest of your comment, though - many organizations are more interested in paying low rates than employing experienced researchers. Sadly, quality has dropped.
Interesting discussion here. Not what I expected--I mean there's a little bit of everything, and I can see a bit of truth in most of it.
I'm kind of with Sufi on the 'selling out' thing though. Before the internet, I belonged to lots of writers groups, worked in academia for awhile, published in some little literary journals, and I met a lot of people who used 'not selling out' as an excuse to be personally unpleasant and cryptic and obscure in their writing. They made a big show of being 'artists' to cover over a multitude of other sins, literary and personal. Also, there's a self-involved quality to academic and 'artistic' writing that I find grating. Hardly anyone except other writers reads that stuff, and it gets really stuffy and short on substance and genuine human experience. Long on language short on 'content'. (lol)
I don't want my prose to have this relentless "Look Ma! I'm writing!" quality to it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with writing informational articles for money. I do think that the internet (so far) has driven down the amount of money that kind of writing can command though, and when you drive down the price you're going to drive down the quality.
As APD marketing points out though, things are changing really fast whether we like it or not! It won't be boring, that's for sure. :)
The Internet is a fantastic place for writers and artist,I am both,A beginner when it comes to writing a book in the form of a novel,for years I've written plots,scripts,character breakdowns,when comes to drawing I am pretty near the professional level,as I said before I am working on a ebook, my first. I am also working on a pin-up book full of my sketches and finished art-work,and by the end of the year I will have not one but two books published thanks to the Internet.So I think the Internet provides a tremendous opportunity for writers and artist alike.You don't have to sell out to have a successful book on the Internet because their is a huge audience out there that look for books that will entertain them,give them a brief break from their lives.Their is really millions of people searchingthe net for a good read,millions of people looking for a great story to get lost in.Sci-fi,Romance,Mysteries,Horror,Poetry,whatever your style,their is someone out there on the net searching for it.Right now.Yeah, you can make money writing articles,or writing content loaded with Keywords and all that,but you also can make money writing ebooks that entertain people.No one remembers that great article that was loaded with keywords and attracted a lot of AdSense dollars are what ever.But you can bet they can remember that great story that they just read!Ebooks have a life of their own.Once you write it and publish it,you never know where that story is going.You never know where that book is going to take you.Harry Potter started out as plots on the back of napkins and scrap paper before becoming a book.And I'm pretty sure you know the rest of story.So I am very thankful that the net provides the opportunity for me to publish my creations at my whim,who knows where this journey will lead me to?Fortune?Fame?Cult classic?Celebrity?Or maybe it just might provide enough for me to live a comfortable life doing something that I love doing.Earning a descent living off of my IMAGINATION,it doesn't get any better than that.
Storytellersrus says:
7 months ago
Much to consider. The Internet is not going anywhere so I guess writers and writing will evolve. I am still reeling from the Susan Boyle phenomenon and thankful for the metaphor.