By Edward Nawotka
Today’s lead story by Chris Kubica outlines a future for books in which they are not physical objects, but relational databases. The, argues Kubica, enables the writer to open up the text and unlock the information inside, allowing the reader to engage more fully — and even participate — in the growth and development of the book. It is a future where books are “neverending” texts that integrate the experiences of the readers themselves, giving readers a genuine role to play in the life of the book.
Jed Perl in his recent article for The New Republic, “Alone, With Words” argues quite the opposite, suggesting that though technology has all but disintermediated the experience of writing from reading, “writing, for the writer, ought to have a freestanding value, a value apart from the reader.”
What do you think? Read our lead article (the first part of a three part exclusive series) and Perl’s piece, and let us know what you think in the comments.
One Comment
Should Writers write for themselves or others? A truth for me lies somewhere between the two, and its driven by choice.
As a writer I cannot ignore the vast array of platforms that are being created almost on a daily basis it seems for the written word to reach the readers senses. They are creating an exciting and daunting frontier that awaits us all once the writing is done.
However, whether that writing is an immediate turn-around to the reader as a blog for example or the years it may take to pull a 90,000 word novel from the Muse, it is a solitary journey for the writer.
She writes the piece for herself, crafts it, and edits it, until she is truly satisfied. Then a metamorphosis happens. This inward focus changes direction the instant she contemplates publishing it. She is no longer writing for her Self, she has written for her intended readership, which is as it should be.
The written word is a response to participating in one’s community, culture. (Even the hermit in her cave has a connection to community, either in her menories, real time, or the possibility of future interaction) It cannot exist exclusively for the writer and remain alive beyond its creation. (The only way around this is to set fire to the page, delete the electronic copy)
Which brings us back the definition of published, and to that wonderful array of publishing platforms. If I send an email to a friend, am I then a published author? By todays definitions, I am. Not widely recognised I’ll admit. But my point being that I wrote for myself and then chose to share it with at least one other pair of eyes, another set of senses outside my own.
For every theory or belief system there are exceptions, and within my neat analysis above the thorny issue of the posthumous works Jed Perl mentioned are anomalies that only have a solution in the intentions of the dead. Therein lies yet another story for another time.
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