The Write Time, Write Place for Writers

If you are an emerging writer, congratulations!  There has never been a better time to be a writer than right here, right now.

I have to say this because of all the doom and gloom that is being spread about the uncertain future of publishing, journalism, newspapers, magazines, poetry, fiction, and anything else that involves putting one word after another in the hopes of sharing information while making a few bucks doing so. Professional writing, some say, is on its way out, or is about to succumb to such a shake-up that very few will survive. The internet generally, and social media and gadgets like the iPad specifically, are the metaphorical asteroids about to change the literary landscape forever, making all these things extinct. Soon, books themselves will go the way of  the Yellow Pages.

James Joyce Shows Off His iPad

There is some truth in this, but so little it is hardly recognizable. First of all, that grain is already ten years old. For example, can you guess  how many people, of those who bought the latest best seller, actually read beyond the first couple pages? The  figure I last heard was less than 25 percent. The majority of people no longer read the daily newspaper. Those who do pick it up, seldom look at ever page. Of those who subscribe to it, few unfold it every day.

Many have chosen to make a distinction between print and new media, paper and electronic, traditional and new… but these comparisons miss the point. The same rule applies here as it does to any change, any transition, any evolution: The future belongs to those who best adapt to change.

Never before in history could one person, within a few minutes write a message, a sonnet, news report, love letter, or recipe and have it read by thousands, simply by posting it on a blog.

Never before has so much information been available as there is today, nor as quickly as it is available today.

Imagine an introverted Emily Dickinson, anonymously posting her letters and poetry on a blog today, receiving the encouragement and support she never knew in her own life.

Charlotte Bronte texting her sister

Imagine what Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, or Alexandre Dumas could have cranked out if they could have typed on a keyboard. Imagine the trauma James Joyce would have been spared if the typesetters had not been reliant on legible handwriting. Imagine Ezra Pound hammering his newest works on Twitter, with a 140 character limit. And imagine what Shakespeare might have created if he had had access to YouTube.

Our next up and coming literary giant will undoubtedly produce works the likes of which the world has never before imagined. Some may not even at first perceive it as literature. And this person, whoever he or she may be, has probably already begun, writing  right now for perhaps only a dozen or so hardcore fans. Whoever this person is, I can guarantee that he or she is out there already, perhaps only showing the faintest glimmers of genius yet to come. Perhaps, this person, could even be you… if you just finished one more paragraph tonight before going to bed.

So don’t worry about the times you live in. Don’t pine for eras behind us. There is no better time to be a writer than this moment right now.

No related posts.

Tagged as: charlotte bronte, erasmus, james joyce, writing today