Who needs computers?
For the first time ever I’m writing a blog on an iPhone. To many this may be wholly unremarkable but because I am a nerd I am very impressed. The mobile unit has almost completely replaced desktops and laptops.
Many say that Web 3.0 is “smart”. Or, in other words - it follows user patterns and intelligently creates services they need. Another, I believe, more important aspect to Web 3.0 is accessibility. One can access all information with the click of a mobile button. Coupled with the rising voice recognition programs out there - one won’t even need to click buttons.
What does this mean for publishing? Plenty. While people will always need books, the format won’t always be the same. The future of publishing is not only electronic but mobile. With iPhone ebooks and Oprah’s endorsement of Kindle it us time to look at mediums other than paper for distribution.
Will the paperback go away? I hope not. But our grandkids will be making fun of them while they read a New York Times bestseller on the back side of their sunglasses.
National Novel Writing Month
Every year in November thousands of people get together, pens in hand, and launch onto an epic adventure wherein the vow to complete 50,000 words in one month. The journey is not without pitfalls, but shines with a hard-to-describe since of completion when done.
National Novel Writing Month is a community of writers who gather every November on the Internet and help each other write a novel. Those that succeed in completing 50,000 words in one month receive a certificate and go into history as a Winner of the self-competitive process. Now into its 10th year, NaNoWriMo (as it is lovingly called) has become a staple among writers and publishers alike. Many authors I know only write during November now and use the rest of the year to edit, polish and plan.
I’ve completed three years myself and am embarking on a non-fiction title this year to be released by The Way Things Are Publications. And, as a matter of fact author Kathleen Kaufman wrote The Tree Museum for NaNoWriMo and it is being published March 2009. While we certainly don’t plan on only publishing NaNoWriMo books every year, there is a definite trend.
Why does NaNoWriMo work? I think, most fundamentally, it forces discipline on writers. There is no time for procrastination when the clock is ticking. The second reason I think it works is because authors lose their inhibitions and explore wild new territory without the boundaries of system, structure and process. Sometimes the most spontaneous thing is the closest to the author’s true vision and heart.
It is my position that all writers should participate in NaNoWriMo every year. If only to bring the fun back into writing. More importantly, it keeps you writing. And that’s what writers should do. Let the rest of the month fill your desk with outlines, sketches, and unfinished projects. Use November to just get it done.
PHOTO: by Michael Connors, the founder of MorgueFile.
