Wednesday, April 27, 2011

And I Quote

 "Because our brains can no longer think beyond a tweet, we can't write well."    

from a PW article, "Books Without Batteries: The Negative Impacts of Technology," by Bill Henderson, April 11, 2011. 


What do YOU think?

And be honest now. Would you be a better, stronger writer if the internet didn't exist?  Or is Bill Henderson wrong?  Has blogging and tweeting actually IMPROVED your writing?

12 comments:

  1. Interesting. Tweeting helps say exactly what you need and only that. Setting up my personal blog just over a year ago (so I could remember the little parts of life) is what jolted me into writing at all. So yes, blogging and tweeting improve my writing - in different ways.

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  2. I KNOW I would be a stronger writer if the internet didn't exist. At least, a more productive one. I don't tweet very often, so Twitter hasn't corrupted my writing yet. But the billions of distractions the internet provides really eats away at my writing time. For instance, I should be writing now. Instead, I'm looking at blogs! Oy vey :)

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  3. My writing has improved because I've learned from blogs, but Twitter and texting are killers.

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  4. I don't think Twitter has affected my writing one way or the other. It's just fun to do.

    I blog for the same reason: it's fun to do. I know I write more now than I did before I started blogging, but as to whether it has improved my writing outside of the blog, I'm not sure.

    I agree with bfav up there: I have learned a lot about writing from reading other people's blogs, and even tweets, and have used all of that to improve my own work.

    What I am sure of is, if I had to point to any single thing as improving my writing, there would be two ;-)

    1. Critique comments from fellow writers (some of which I *met* online)
    2. Reading books (novels and picture books, many of which I learned about while online)

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  5. I think twitter can help you with editing and using precise language. Like anything, it's best in moderation.
    I think the connections I've made in the writing world through blogging and tweeting are INVALUABLE.

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  6. I read twitter more than I post on it, so I don't feel like it affects my writing much. My husband and I text and instant message throughout the day, and we are adamant about using full words (no "C U L8rs") and punctuation. It's like a mission for us not to devolve into janky text-speak.

    I'm a long-time message forum poster, and I think this has contributed to my ability to organize thoughts into persuasive discussions. I went through a phase of not using capitalization and punctuation, but I now look at every forum comment or even blog post as a way to refine skills. I'm sure I have mistakes in this very post, but I don't want to lose awareness of structure.

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  7. Wow, thanks for all the thought-provoking comments, everyone.

    Barbara: so tweeting helps you be more concise. Interesting.

    Stephanie: I hear you about the billions of distractions. Exactly!

    Brooke: I've learned a lot from blogs too. More so than from books about writing.

    Kim: you bring up an excellent point. Twitter and blogging can be fun. I find Twitter overwhelming (too many tweets from too many people) but if I can sift through it to find the nuggets of wisdom, there's some great stuff in there! And haha about any single thing.

    Katharine: I totally agree with you about using Twitter in moderation. Good point about connections in the writing world. The internet's great for that.

    Caroline: AH, you're not on Twitter. I admire you for that. Stick to your guns!

    Stephsco: Likewise re Twitter. And I'm glad to hear you don't use text-speak. I refuse to abbreviate everything. English is a complex and beautiful language.

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  8. I don't tweet so I can't say about that. But I do know I learn a lot from others' blogs. And okay, I spend too much time reading them.

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  9. Oh me too, Natalie! I love reading blogs, but I know I'd get more writing done if I didn't.

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  10. I think the internet is a grand distraction from my writing. I really do love trolling blogs and scrolling through twitter and facebook. But at the end of the day, the writing will only get done if I get off of the internet and write ; )

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  11. Exactly, Kate. Exactly. Nice to see you over here on my blog. Thanks!

    And now I'm getting off again to get some writing done!

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