The Digital Writer |
There are two boxes on my desk. One has been around for half a century and is rapidly losing credibility. From a literary point of view it is useful as a presentation of general pictures of the society and world; it has wonderful parodies in its trash programming. They may not try to be funny but we howl in laughter anyway.
The other box is unwieldy, has its own credibility issues, but is on the upward path and will evolve throughout this century. The young more and more turn to this box for the source of news, comments, information, and entertainment.
All of this will play out in typical fashion and is a story that will be written decades down the road. From a writer's point of view the old box is useless except for the above points. The other box however allows the writer to have a tiny place, a foothold, from which he can deliver whatever value he has to give.
The old box, like the old publishing system, has no use for him. They are at the top level of their success regime and will fight like dogs to stay there. Beauty, truth, or thought hardly scratches the surface. However, this new box gives the writer a frontispiece to whatever worlds decide to come in.
I think those of us who love writing and publishing; do some of it ourselves and have always engaged the literary system at the highest level, may find the changes to come a bit disconcerting. As I've noted on Sunoasis, the poets and literary types will adapt very quickly to this medium because they have everything to gain and virtually nothing to lose. They can build worlds! Not simply fictional worlds but market worlds, reputation worlds, political worlds; a few of which may seed the future in momentous ways. That remains to be seen.
Writers and publishers, for the first time in 500 years, have to deal with an advanced technology that directly impacts writing, publishing, the storage of cultural information, the transmission of knowledge, and, eventually the educational system. It gives rise to that horrible sounding word, "cataclysmic change..." And what will change? Certainly, the three main forms of publishing (the book, newspaper, and magazine) will be altered in ways we can hardly imagine at this time. Old habits die hard but they do die. And new generations, unburdened by the old habits, rise up to sweep the stage clean. We're not quite at that point but getting close to it.
Within a generation, perhaps, the digital mode will move to the center and print publishing will languish on the margins and finally collapse; its costs too great for the lagging patronage. And with it will go many reputations. And with it will go marvelous works and summaries of knowledge. Men and women will arise, hopefully, who see this situation evolving and capture the essence of the values in books, newspapers, and magazines and make sure those values find their way into the new system.
We don't want it to happen but it is here. We would have voted the car and nuclear bomb off the island if we had the opportunity. But, here we are. Our only defense is anticipation of what will occur and then making sure every value dear to us is conserved and transmitted.
David
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