As an aspiring novelist, I'm always curious to see what tools other writers are using to work on their manuscripts. In his introduction to On Writing Well, William Zinsser partly lamented the rise of technology, because it made it far too easy for bad writers to publish their work. On the other hand, he liked that technology also made it easier for good writers to publish their work.
But he was only speaking about computers. What effect does technology have on writers now that smartphones are so commonplace?
I personally like the fact that I can write on my iPhone whenever I want. Much like some people are always texting, I'm always writing. I can use the Google Drive app to work on my my novel at a continuous pace, basically without any interruption (well, except for when the connection goes bad...)
Sometimes I'll compare my experiences with my other writer friends, and I find that they don't always agree with me. They all have iPhones, but they still prefer writing their stories out in longhand, because they think it's more natural that way. If worse comes to worse, they'll transcribe everything onto their computers, but will still avoid writing on their phones.
Meanwhile, I'm so spoiled by technology that I'll actually take a break from writing on my computer in order to lie in bed and write on my iPhone. I don't understand why anyone would still want to write using a pen and paper, when there's such an abundance of flashing screens that will make their work look way prettier than the scribbles on their paper ever will. And besides, wouldn't you prefer to delete the bad chapters in virtual space, so you can avoid wasting paper? Personally, I think a good writer should also be environmentally conscious.
Top image credit: Marta Paniti/Shutterstock.com
