Register | Log in | FAQ | Search | Memberlist | Usergroups
Profile | Log in to check your private messages | Blogs |

ARWZ Forum Index
    > Writers' Zone


 
Post new topicReply to topic
View previous topic :: View next topic
Author Message
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

PostInternet and Writing

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:54 pm
Reply with quote

How has the existence of the internet changed your writing process (for those of us who wrote before they had regular access to the internet, I suppose).
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Richard H. Fay
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 523
Location: Upstate New York

Post

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:46 am
Reply with quote

I'm not sure how much the internet has changed the way I write, but it certainly has changed the way I submit, and the results of those submissions. Prior to having the internet I basically had nothing published. Now that I primarily submit via the internet, I have had 60-70 poems published in about a year.

I am able to send out far more material at once, which may have forced me to increase my productivity. So, in some ways, the internet may have influenced my writing by prodding me to write more.

Also, I do use the net for quick research. And I often use dictionary.com when typing in my poetry, to check definitions and syllable count on certain words. Still, I prefer referencing paper books and dictionaries when initially composing my work.
_________________
"I'm going to do what the warriors of old did. I'm going to recite poetry!"

Richard H. Fay - Azure Lion Productions
https://azurelionproductions.com
See cool stuff featuring my art at the Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store:
https://www.zazzle.com/abandonedtowers
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

Post

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:53 pm
Reply with quote

One big thing that has changed... I feel a responsibility to look up my made-up names on search engines to make sure that they're not being used by another author already.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostEr, yes...

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:52 pm
Reply with quote

Before the wwweb, it was very difficult to make contact with the 'community'.

Small Press mags would spring up, run a dozen issues, then fold as I discovered them. UK mainstream mags seemed limited to an exclusive club of 'house' authors. Analog, Asimov's etc were an unattainable pinnacle, like climbing Everest...

Submissions were wearily photocopied, posted 'surface', and weeks would pass before my 'received' card returned. Then, nothing for many months, followed by a form letter of rejection. 'Overstocked' ? How was I supposed to know when I wrote it last year ? Poor grammar ? Hey, I used the Queen's English, not Shakesperean Sonnets or Bronx Vernacular. Technically flawed ? But I checked the math thrice-- Oh, they meant my writing style ?? D'uh...

How do you learn when a tale's only readers are a clan of delighted cousins plus one or two harassed slush-pile trawlers ? And your only feedback is either, 'When's the next ? PLEASE ??' or 'REJECTED [X]' ?

I did enter several writing competitions. I got such wildly different responses to the same tales, I stopped submitting myself to such torture...

Unfortunately, local writing groups had no idea what to do with me or my writing. The 'Hard SF' technical aspects were *always* beyond them, several had a 'hidden agenda' of writing screen-plays or for 'women's weeklies'. The only SF EasterCon workshop I attended was an unmitigated disaster....

I can't claim that my writing has improved. At least now I can post to a familiar forum or a specialist group found in minutes with eg Google, get moderated, reasoned replies, explain myself if necessary, prompt debate, suggest re-phrasing, have that dissected, offer a subtle change etc etc, all in the ten minutes while a pot of tea brews...

Different world.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
David Thomas Lord
Visiting Author


Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 172

Post

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:36 am
Reply with quote

The Internet has made researching sooooo much easier.

You can Google almost anything. Find exact dates of an event, the names of people who were there, what the place looked like. All of your necessary reference books are online. And, while you're writing in one window, researching in another, you can contact your editor, agent or collaborator in a third.

However, there is a huge detriment to the Internet while you write...chat rooms. I find that if you're not disciplined, you can waste major parts of many days checking news (and gossip) of the industry. If you allow yourself to get caught-up, it takes far too much time away from actual writing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Shadow_Ferret
Active Member


Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 318
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Post

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:05 am
Reply with quote

The internet has become a big time-waster and way for me to pretend I'm doing somehting writerly related by posting on boards like this or doing "research," but it certainly hasn't helped my productivity any.

And it helps me get rejected a lot faster than snailmail ever did.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

Post

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:31 pm
Reply with quote

I agree. The internet gives you a huge temptation right on your writing space. I agree it's convenient for research, but I also agree the internet can be a big downside unless you're super disciplined.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum





Alternative Reality Web Zine: ISSN# 1559-3037


All materials on these pages (including fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews and opinion pieces) are copyrighted to the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.




View Page Stats
ARWZ topic RSS feed 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group