WRITERS AND TECHNOLOGY--HOW DO YOU WRITE? HOW DO WE READ?

“Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please don't abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book."  Patti Smith

JOANNE (Liebhauser) WECK

joanneweck.com/‎ 

I wrote my first poem in a school tablet in pencil. I bought a special notebook for my first diary (which I insisted on calling a "journal" to ensure the serious nature of my entries) and I wrote with my special,  favorite ball point pen.

When I got my first after-school job (as a waitress) I saved my tips for a my first typewriter, a portable Smith-Corona. I taught myself to type on it. That little blue machine made me feel like a "real writer" and served me through  high school and college.  I even used it to write my first novel. The only problem--every draft (and even every edit) involved retyping--the entire page, even the entire novel. Perhaps that was good for my writing education but when I got my first word processor  I was ecstatic. I could actually edit in the machine! 

I understand that some very successful writers still write on yellow legal pads or in notebooks with pens and/or pencils. They say it makes them feel closer to the words.

But I'm in love with my MacBook! I'll say it again. I"m in love with my MacBook!

I love the ease of working on it and editing and printing from it. I love hearing the words I've written spoken (albeit in a robotic voice) to me. But I love it not only for writing but also for downloading and reading ebooks, and for listening to audiobooks. Technology has changed my (reading and writing) life. 

Don't get me wrong, I'll still love the feel (and smell) and look of a real volume or even a paperback in my hands. I want my own novels and short stories published in hard copy as well as electronically, but to my mind, technology has only freed me up to concentrate on the ideas, not the physical effort of getting it down! WRITE ON!