Is The Net Good For Writers?

I didn't get most of that article. None of them really said anything. It seemed like they were afraid to criticize the internet.

I'll never look at the internet in the same way after reading Andrew Keen. I think he's gotten it right, though it's not a popular view.

The internet's capacity for and encouragement of stupid far outweighs its handiness in researching, submitting, etc.

I think the new ways of distribution (Internet, etc.) makes it easier to disseminate information and provide a needed alternative for writers to let their voices heard, much as YouTube has become a hotbed for amateur videomakers and entertainers to find an audience or how Podcasts, etc. provide an outlet for musicians and content providers (news, commentaries, etc.). Blogs, for example, have become a valid source for news and opinions (and a major force in recent elections) and well-respected bloggers have become sought-after journalists.

But distribution alone doesn't make one a "writer" or "musician" or "filmmaker." The WWW as we know it has been around for about 15 years now and there are billions of sites out there and a wealth of information even Google can't completely catalogue, but that doesn't mean quality. If we follow the argument that "everyone writes, but not everyone is a writer" (I know, we've discussed this very thing not long ago), then it is not distribution that matters, but the content and its quality. After all, we all know about the slush pile -- and the Internet, IMHO, is the world's largest slush pile.

What the Internet means, though (along with podcasts, YouTube, etc.) is an alternative venue and a potentially wide distribution for quality work to get through the bottleneck (traditional publishing). Quality still counts, but there are more opportunities now, and more ways for artists to find their niches, whether they are local dive bars for your garage band, or MySpace for your writing -- if you build it (and if it's not crap), they will come.

Sigh.

From the article:

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.

This makes it harder for writers to make a living writing. To write professionally means being able to craft sentences and paragraphs and articles and books that communicate as literature. Those who care about such things should rise to the top.

But I think many writers — even good ones — will have to accept the fact that books can be loss-leaders or break-even propositions in a highly mediated world where showing up in person generates the most income.

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swvaughn said:

Sigh.

From the article:

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That idea in particular, is such BS. I don't know why everyone is so "cool" with it. It's the lamest thing ever.

The good thing is that people who make such idiotic claims about the future are always dead wrong. But it's still scary to think about writing for free and having to sell your personality instead of your work.

Writers are not experts. I really don't care what their opinions are, and sure as hell would not pay for them. I will pay for their stories, though.

In this utopia these postmodernists propose, amateurs who push the right buttons can be millionaires without a shred of actual ability, or having anything interesting or new to say.

The Net

I think the internet has proven beyond doubt that there are still only a few writers alive at any one time in human history.

RG570 said:

It seemed like they were afraid to criticize the internet.

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That makes sense to me, though. The internet is like the most amazing city, and with an unparalleled public transportation system - culture, information, achievement, technology is yours in an instant. And, like any city, it's riddled with slums, gangsters and litter.

As far as arts and the internet go, I love it and hate it. The ready access to wonderful talent is thrilling. But sometimes the net effect is of a neverending American Idol audition, with a parade of loons entirely sure that, because they possess vocal chords, they can sing.

I also think that the horse is out of the barn. Here we are until at least a technological apocalypse. It's handier to make the best of it and by 'make', I mean 'shape' the best of it, and keep nostalgia only for reverence's sake. Otherwise it's paralyzing.

Well, it has been good for me. I don't think I would have found an agent and certainly not the agent I did find, without the net.

But to take it out of the trivial and personal, I think it is wonderful that many people who never would have tried to write much beyond a grocery list are beginning to explore storytelling because of the internet. Sure, much of it will range from not very good to downright awful. But it may still serve a useful and worthy purpose for the one doing the writing. They may be able to improve their writing because of help over the internet. And we may have new and great storytellers emerge because of the chances offered internet (but probably not too many...).

I'm tired of internet bashing. The tool is as good as the use people make of it (and as bad).

lkp said:

Well, it has been good for me. I don't think I would have found an agent and certainly not the agent I did find, without the net.

But to take it out of the trivial and personal, I think it is wonderful that many people who never would have tried to write much beyond a grocery list are beginning to explore storytelling because of the internet. Sure, much of it will range from not very good to downright awful. But it may still serve a useful and worthy purpose for the one doing the writing. They may be able to improve their writing because of help over the internet. And we may have new and great storytellers emerge because of the chances offered internet (but probably not too many...).

I'm tired of internet bashing. The tool is as good as the use people make of it (and as bad).

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Trouble is, most of them still can't write a decent grocery list, but they're flooding agents, editors, and the net itself, with grocery list writing.

Ouch. (Now, where's my latest grocery list? Oh no! Why oh why didn't I find a beta reader? No wonder my husband came home with dog biscuits instead of Caramel Cremes!)

Just start with that pile over there...

Maestrowork has got it right! I've never thought of the internet as a "slush pile" but how fitting. I'll never look at 'WWW' the same way again.