
We are all writers now - robg
http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/content/anne-trubek/we-are-all-writers-now
======
emontero1
I couldn't agree more. The author nailed it here. The web is bringing all
these disparate voices, all these writers from different backgrounds,
ethnicities and walks of life, together. The resulting collage is enriching
for aspiring writers and normal folks alike.

Also, I think this is the crux of the article:

 _True, much of what is written online is quotidian, informational, ephemeral.
But writing has always been so: traditional newspapers line bird-cages a day
later; lab reports describe methodology in tedious detail; the founding
fathers wrote what they ate for lunch. And the quality of many blogs is high,
indistinguishable in eloquence and intellect from many traditionally published
works._

Well said.

------
kes
The author would seem to be suggesting that the process of writing is a task
that not only expresses what we are trying to say, but benefits us by making
our thoughts coherent. While I think this is a valid argument (I often start
writing when I'm trying to get my thoughts in order) I don't think that it
necessarily benefits our culture in total.

 _A response to our supervisor’s clever status update on Facebook is written
carefully, so to keep the repartee going. Concision and wit are privileged in
these new forms. Who would not welcome shorter, funnier prose?_

An interesting ideal, to be sure, but not something that is actually seen in
our interactions. More people are writing, but this does not imply that more
people are thinking about writing. The "25 Things" lists mentioned are not
filled with creative, original and interesting thoughts as implied by the
article, instead they are filled with nonsense and inane "LOL"s and "I don't
really know...haha".

It would be a nice world if more people cared about what they wrote, but
writing only reflects thinking. If a persons thoughts are crap when they
speak, nothing will change when they start pecking at a keyboard.

~~~
michael_dorfman
I think the author missed the bigger point: we are all publishers now.

The key innovation is not that people are writing more (or worse, or whatever)
but that they are self-publishing it for all to see. Never before has it been
so easy for someone to distribute their ill-advised random noodlings (or
brilliant essays) unedited, to such a large potential audience.

If a person's thoughts are crap when they speak, their audience is small (and
limited in time), so the effects are small. If their thoughts are crap, and
written down, and published widely: well, that's a different kettle of fish.

