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4/19/2011 1:06:50 AM
 
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Section 18: Outdoor Writing Subject: Writing For A Living Msg# 786731
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You make some good points Courtney. Hand-held readers are probably not an issue as typically they are used for reading what is first printed as a book. The problem with freelance writing, in my view, is the lack of good pay for good work. Of course that doesn't explain the general decline in the quality of writing in major newspapers where writers still make pretty decent money. Then there is the internet, where no one wants to pay for anything.... I'm referring to the readers. With everything totally supported by advertising, the publishers are at the mercy of the advertisers. Still, there is some good writing around. Also, consider this: at least the internet may have people reading more. |
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For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where: I believe the worst culprits in the decline of the written word are -specifically- hand-held readers and blogs. The concept of the hand-held reader is genius (and I can't be too critical - I own one myself) but the accessibility and convenience at such a miniscule price did to writing what outsourcing has done to other fields - it "cheapened" it and destroyed its career potential. Blogs are much the same. Pay no mind to writing standards, vocabulary, style, etc. Even those concepts have become obsolete. Now any person with a computer can write columns, articles, editorials and make it visible to the entire world. All those writing forms will be unceremoniously lumped together and labeled with the almost derrogatory word "blog". Writing has been cheapened and made common. The catch 22 is that blogs allow for the expression of free speech - and what's more free when virtually EVERYONE is able to write now? Forgive my rambling. My point is simply that writing has gone the way of every profession - cheaper, faster, easier to access. Akin to being outsourced. |
