Writer's Digest

BACK TO BASICS

Every year, there is some new form of technology introduced into the “writersphere,” and each one seems as though it has the ability to help you write in a way that you have never written before (or would ever have thought to write). Many of them, while well intentioned, usually require the writer to explore a learning curve in an effort to make use of the technology in a productive and meaningful way. For those of us who can remember using typewriters, there was indeed a learning curve there, just as it was for word processors, computers, and wide array of more portable writing devices. Even now, there are the numerous soft ware programs that allow us to organize, format, and export our writing into other forms, and each one has a learning curve that could be daunting to its user.

A few years ago, while walking through the Poe Museum in Richmond, Va., with my wife and daughter, I came across a notebook in which Edgar Allan Poe had written various notes on a project. I found myself staring at his handwriting, realizing that particular technology was still something widely available in the present day and that I had not given it even a second thought up until that point. I suddenly found

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Writer's Digest

Writer's Digest12 min read
Steven Rowley
Steven Rowley’s novels are intimately epic—stories about people who are thrown into the deep end of life’s defining moments. Where there is love, there is loss, and with it, the unifying power of grief. In a word, Rowley writes about change, and whil
Writer's Digest2 min read
Write It Out
Have you ever wondered what the area you live in looked like 100 years ago? 300 years? How was the natural world different then without the current buildings and roads? Choose to journal about this from your imagination or send one of your story’s ch
Writer's Digest3 min read
Poetic Asides
While people and culture change over time, there are a few poetry topics that I think will always be incredibly popular with new and experienced poets: observation poems, confession poems, love poems (which are often themselves confession poems), and

Related