Writing in the Digital Age - Pros & Cons

There are many benefits to being a writer in the digital age, but there are also drawbacks. Below are what I consider to be the top five positive and negative aspects of being a writer today.

Pros

1. Research: All the information you could possibly want is right at your fingertips. Need to know the rectal temperature of a Madagascan hummingbird? No worries. Just google it and Bob's your uncle. Imagine what it must have been like in the 'olden days' when authors had to spend hours trawling through library books to find or confirm simple facts.

2. Email queries: Again, imagine what it was like when authors had to print out multiple copies of manuscripts and then haul them to the post office. Now all this inconvenience and expense has been done away with at the click of a mouse (apart from the few agents / publishers who refuse to accept email queries. Like the early denigrators of electricty they are patiently waiting for this ridiculous fad called the internet to run its course).

3. Online communities: How wonderful it is to find like-minded souls ready at any time of the day or night to answer your writing questions or just commiserate with you over the fact that the world has yet to recognise your genius.

4. Self-promotion: Authors are now far less dependant on publishers for promotion and they can reach their readers in a way which has never been possible before.

5. E-publishing and self-publishing: Have made the joy of authorship available to so many. Now people who otherwise would never have had the opportunity to see their words in print are free to express themselves and share their creations with the entire world.

 Cons

1. Research: All the information you could possibly want is right at your fingertips. The other day I found myself googling the question "what is a good name for a town in a novel," because I just couldn't be bothered thinking one up for myself. The information superhighway is making people lazy and dulling the imagination (at least in my case).

2. Email queries: Now that it's so easy and convenient to send out multiple queries, the agony of suspense and rejection has been multiplied many times over.

3. Online communities: Why bother writing a book when you can spend hours chatting online with people about your plans to write a book?

4. Self-promotion: Authors are now far less reliant on publishers for promotion, and can reach their readers in a way which has never been possible before. Only problem is that with so many social networking sites around, self-promotion has become a full-time job and there's no time left to actually write.

5. E-publishing and self-publishing: Have made the joy of authorship available to so many. Now people who otherwise would never have had the opportunity to see their words in print are free to express themselves and share their creations with the entire world.