by ValerieW-16, 22 May 2009

Does the future of writing lie in technology, or is there a better solution?

As the saying goes, every hero has his downfall, and the publishing industry is no different. Following industrialization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, books and newspapers have been everywhere, their costs of production having been pushed down thanks to the advent of technology that resulted in cheaper manufacturing processes. As a result, written publications have flourished and proliferated. However, due to the financial crisis at the moment, the publishing industry is currently, in effect, at a loss for what to do next. Circulation of journals and magazines are at historic lows. Major newspapers such as the LA Times and the New York Times are laying off hundreds of workers. Book publishing has been all but brought to a standstill. Hence the multimillion dollar question:

"What’s in store for the future of writing?"

The Internet, it seems, is the answer.
The use of the online world as a medium through which bloggers from the mundane to the dissident, express themselve, as well as the people who use good old Xanga, Deviantart, Fictionpress and other blogging sites to publish their writing in the hopes of getting discovered one day. And then there is the more recent phenomenon, namely, the surge of text message and online novels, particularly in Korea and Japan. In fact, the popular Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl was actually adapted from the online novel of the same name. Written by Kim Ho Sik, My Sassy Girl quickly gained an online following and was eventually published as a novel, featuring quirky web expressions (“lol”) and emoticons (@_@) exactly as they were written in the original. Although these particular aspects probably weren’t a hit with the grammar freaks among us, love it or loathe it, it was an indisputably unique play on language nonetheless. Following this, the buzz generated prompted enough interest to arouse the interest of film producers, who then adapted the novel into a movie. In other words, a dream come true for any writer wannabe.

Another possibility is the e-book.
Officially available since the 1970’s, the e-book only became popular in the past few years, mostly due to the release of Amazon’s Kindle2, an e-book reading apparatus, that has sparked interest in the future of the e-book distribution method. Electronic books may be purchased through the official Kindle store for the price of approximately USD $9.99, which is roughly the same price one would pay for a hard copy. While this is a method that certainly decreases costs of production for publishers--thus ensuring the survival of the industry--given that the prices for consumers remain relatively similar, consumers have little incentive to purchase books or other publications online. Proponents of Kindle argue that the device is portable and convenient to use, but others complain about the small screen size and the high price at $359.00. Environmentalists, on the other hand, herald this move, as the cutting down of trees that is necessary to print books will hopefully decrease following the proliferation of e-books.

While the internet and e-book certainly provide some assurance that the written word will survive, critics argue that the filter-less mechanism of the online world means that the quality of such writing will take a turn for the worse, even if the quantity of output remains the same or increases. While this may not necessarily be the case, it is certainly impossible to rule out such a possibility. Another cause for concern is that writing will no longer be a financially viable career, which will ultimately result in widespread unemployment in the publishing industry. Of course, there are some benefits of going online--God only knows the complexity of the modern book publishing process, from the formatting of the manuscript to the editing process--but one must pause to question whether this is really the right road to go down, given all the criticisms laid out so far.

Nobody knows for certain what’s going to happen, to say the least, but as a passionate writer, it’s hard not to feel a certain sense of horror about the seemingly imminent, inevitable collapse of the system I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I’m not quite cynical enough to proclaim that writing will disintegrate to pulp if technology is indeed the future--this could be immensely hypocritical, considering that I’m one of those writing wannabes myself--but forgive me for being a romantic when I say that I’ll miss the sentiment of holding a book in my hands.

Ironically enough, there is an intangible quality about holding a tangible piece of writing, something sacred, something resolute. In a world where content is increasingly devalued, the internet is undoubtedly a threat to the existence of printed publications, for better or for worse. To quote Bob Dylan, “the times they are a-changin’” in the publishing industry. Let’s hope writers hang onto that pen tightly, because they’re in for a heck of a bumpy ride.

Please also read ... THE FUTURE OF BOOKS ON PAPER HOW BOOKS USED TO BE MADE (a video) Did you know: "April 23rd is WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY?!!!" WELL READ! - ON STARTING OR JOINING your own BOOK CLUB! ValerieW-17 on "THE IMPORTANCE OF READABILITY" HAVE THE STORIES OF THE DEMISE OF BOOK PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSTORES BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED? EUNICE-19 on THE POWER OF READING Check out all our blogs in "BOOKS, PAPER, ETC"