- “No Internet” by Flickr user Marcelo Graciolli
Today, I’m thinking about the internet.
I’ve been without access to the internet for a couple of days. At the time of writing this post, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to upload it, or contact anyone to let them know if I can’t.
My original article has been put on hold (because I can’t get access to the internet to do the research it requires), and instead I’m thinking about the internet.
As many of you know, I live in rural Australia, where the intense heat and humidity seem to make the wi-fi melt out of the air, leaving me unable to connect to anyone or anything outside my own house. (Yes, I know that’s not how the internet works… But I don’t have a better explanation for why I lose internet on hot, humid days.) So, while I hear/read lots of writers talking about ways to get off the internet to enable them to concentrate on writing, I often find myself with the opposite problem in the summer months.
I’m old enough to remember a time before the internet was really a thing. To remember the early days of ICQ chats and message boards and image-free webpages that took upwards of a minute to load. But I’m also young enough that I reach instinctively for my phone when I find myself wondering who that actor is, or where I’ve heard a phrase before, or who sings that song that’s stuck on infinite repeat in the back of my mind.
Without the internet, I feel somewhat lost. Not just in life (although, that too) but in writing.
I’m not just thinking about the internet. I’m thinking about the often surprising ways I use it to improve my writing.
It’s through the internet that I stay in touch with my writing friends, and my critique partners – most of whom are located on the other side of the world. Most of whom wouldn’t even be my friends or critique partners without the internet.
I can fact-check without leaving the comfort of my chair, and look up historical facts with ease. I can check (for the seven thousandth time) whether my sentence requires the word ‘lay’ or ‘lie’. I can look at satellite images of the city where my story is set, and talk – often in real time – to people who live there.
My search history is littered with bizarre questions and topics – often things I wouldn’t be comfortable asking a real person.
- How do you poison bats?
- What would the body of a poisoned bat look like?
- Is there another name for a plunger?
- Do Americans use the term ‘lounge room’?
- How tall is a stone wall? (No, really… )
Without the internet, I obviously wouldn’t have discovered this amazing community, and I wouldn’t have the pleasure of writing for Writer Unboxed each month. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to travel to the other side of the world to attend the Unconference (twice) and transform so many names-on-the-screen into dear friends and colleagues.
There’s a certain romance to the idea of retreating into a cabin in the woods with nothing but a typewriter and a head full of ideas (and food, obviously), but for all its promises of productivity, I’d miss the internet.
I do miss the internet.
Yes, the internet can be procrastination heaven; the non-stop news cycle is mentally exhausting; too much social media can be soul-destroying; and there are only so many cat videos you can watch before you realise that your time would have been better spent actually putting words on the page.
Nonetheless, my writing life would be so much poorer without it.
What about you?
Do you have a love/hate relationship with the internet? What surprising ways do you use the internet to make your writing better?
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About Jo Eberhardt
Jo Eberhardt is a writer of speculative fiction, mother to two adorable boys, and lover of words and stories. She lives in rural Queensland, Australia, and spends her non-writing time worrying that the neighbor's cows will one day succeed in sneaking into her yard and eating everything in her veggie garden.
I”m like you – I’ve used the internet for all kinds of things related to my WIP–what does the interior of a Frank Lloyd Wright house look like? can a simple blood test spot an STD?does Stanford offer an MFA? (surprisingly the answer is no)- not to mention the “images” function where I download faces that look like my character and build a private piniterest page for visual inspiration. The trick of course is modulation, balance. (but isn’t that the case with everything?)
Oh, absolutely! Everything in moderation — including moderation.
Yesterday I explained how one went about research when I was in college. Pre-internet. The trips to the library, the searches through the thick index of scientific journal articles, the requests for said journals, copying articles on a copy machine or taking notes, the inter library requests, the waiting for these articles or journals to arrive via mail……yes, I do love having answers at my fingertips.
I’ve tried explaining the concept of waiting to go to the library to my children…. but it’s so hard for them to imagine. I was very fortunate, however, to strike up a conversation with my local librarian, and have the opportunity to take my kids out the back of the library into a storage space, where they got to have a go at using a card catalogue. it was an eye-opening experience for them.
Gotta love living in the future.
I’m a sucker for animal video’s too. It cuts in to my writing. But it also takes me places to see where my characters live.
A continent away in Arizona, I know your pain when the dry summer heat melts the internet. And when it works, the joy of instant answers. But sometimes I miss going to the library and the wonderful tangents the research books brought. I don’t indulge myself enough because of the time it takes. But your post reminded me that perhaps a writer should indulge herself sometimes.
Oh, it’s definnitely a wonderful treat to go and lose myself in the library. For all that the internet brings, there are definitely times when paper books and libraries are the true pleasure.
Hey, Jo,
My computer has been acting up for two months now. I admitted it to the hospital, they charged me 100+ bucks, and it still doesn’t work much better. It’s not recognizing my router or modem or whatever that thingamajig is called. So I’ve been internetless as far as my home PC goes. My phone still picks up the wi-fi, though, so all is not a total loss, and I use it as a hot spot when absolutely necessary (I don’t have much ‘hot spot time’).
If you’ve noticed, I’ve pulled back from the webs a bit…a lot for the reason stated above, but also for sanity’s sake. It’s just become too caustic for me much of the time. But I do so love the internet…I love having info at my fingertips (yes, I remember card catalogs and reference books that couldn’t be checked out, etc.), I love shopping, and I love learning about new things that I’d otherwise never encounter.
I also love how it introduced me to all of you. I’m in a pretty rural area, too, with little in common with my neighbors. If it weren’t for you folks, I would surely be eating dirt by now, and complimenting the cook while at it.
To dirt!
I don’t think that Americans use the word ‘lounge room’. I’m an American and I’m not sure what it refers to, so I’m guessing we probably don’t. We use living room, family room, den, great room (to mean living room and kitchen combined) if it means ‘where we hang out at home’? Neat post. Good luck!
Thanks, Shana. Yeah, my research (and later conversations) informed me that the closest term is ‘living room’. Although that may vary based on geographical location.
When I told my son that Americans don’t use the term ‘lounge room’, his first question was: “But… Where do they put their lounge?” To which, of course, I had to explain that you also don’t use the term lounge, you’re more likely to call it a sofa.
English is a great language, isn’t it?
I used to read my Dad’s encyclopedias when I was a kid. amazed by how much there was to know!! Anything you wanted to find out about was pretty much in there, and to me that was magic. I use the Internet in much the same way now. And also to stay connected to my tribe (like you all right here and now!) I hear you, Jo, about how disconnected you can feel when that’s not an option. Like anything in this crazy world, the Internet can be a tool or a weapon, depending.
I love the internet…on my terms.
It didn’t take long to realize how easily a “few minutes” of online research can morph into an entire morning. So now, when I’m writing, I don’t even connect to the internet. If something comes up that I need to fact-check or research, I mark the spot on the page with a large, red question mark, then jot it on a sticky-note to look up later.
I do like the internet for maps and locations, and for visual aids–I have printed out pictures of Victorian homes, bag pipes, igloos, tatted lace, etc. Even though I know basically what such things look like, I’ve found that having a visual reference helps with description and fishing out a detail or two.
Another entertaining post, Jo. Always look forward to them!
Hi Jo, and thanks for inviting us to reflect on the internet.
I have nothing to add to all the positive aspects you name. They’re undeniable. But here’s a question or two for you: what fine, lasting works of fiction can be attributed to writers’ use of the internet? Were any fine works damaged, stillborn or never written because of the intrusions of the internet? Impossible to say.
What we do know about for sure are the hundreds of brilliant works created by novelists–and every other kind of writer– before the internet, computers, Word, or Scrivener, etc.
Thanks again. The power and influence of recent technology really demands of us that we think about its influence, on writers and on readers.
Hi Barry,
That’s a really interesting question, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to answer it in about 50 years or so.
For all the hundreds of brilliant works created by novelists in the pre-internet age, it’s important to note that a lot of them weren’t considered to be masterpieces at the time they were written. It’s only with the passage of time, and a different perspective, that they’ve been recognised as the literary works they are.
So in order to really consider which lasting works of fiction can trace their creation, at least in part, to their author’s use of the internet, we have to wait for the internet to have existed long enough to give today’s works that passage of time and perspective.
Are there works that haven’t been written (or published) due, in part, to the intrusion of the internet? Doubtless. But there were also doubtless works that weren’t written (or published) pre-internet, due to the difficulty of everyday people to access research, or make publishing contacts, or improve their craft.
Now, as then, it’s the people with the drive to use all available tools at their disposal — and a healthy measure of luck — who have a chance to have their masterpieces (eventually) recognised.
Charlotte Bronte would never have had Jane Eyre published if she hadn’t used the name Currer Bell.
Mary Shelley would never have had Frankenstein published if she hadn’t been part of Lord Byron’s social circle (and married to Percy Shelley).
In fifty years, we’ll be able to look back on novelists of today, and pick the ones who would never have completed, or published, their masterpieces without access to the internet. I have absolutely no doubt of it.
That being said, I completely agree with your final statement — it’s important for all of us to think about how technology influences us as a society, and us as writers. Still, I have to say, it’s a wonderful time to be alive.
Thanks, Jo, for your detailed reply. I have to agree that, with the exception of certain hell-on-earth lives and locales–not to mention the alternative–it is definitely a wonderful time to be alive.
As for waiting fifty years, etc., the speed of change will no doubt accelerate beyond its current breakneck speed. By then, I don’t think anyone will be looking back farther than the last tweet. But I could be wrong. Thanks again.
It is a tool of communication that seems to have become an integral component of today’s society. We use it with purpose or we can think out loud aimlessly and share those meanderings with others. We can dialogue at all levels and even though significantly younger or older still share our thoughts with others as well as open ourselves up (or not) to their thoughts, fears, and opinions. At seventy-four and living in the north woods of Wisconsin, and having originated in Connecticut, the internet allows me access to those with whom I would communicate: past, present, and future. I write.
Don’t worry Jo, when we get the NBN all hooked up you won’t have any internet problems – they’ve promised.
Hahahahahahahahaha!! Oh, that was a great laugh for the morning!
Hey Jo,
Like you, the internet has introduced me to new friends from all over the world–many of whom are part of the WU community. But I have a love/hate relationship with social media and I’ve been weaning myself off of it this year. Yes, I still comment here and there, but now I try to use the groups I belong to more strategically. In other words, to ask questions for a writing project, get some guidance, or for research. Otherwise, I really try to make the effort to keep away from social media.
By nature, I’m a Luddite and so you would think I would hate more than love, but I’m also dyslexic. More than once the trusty internet has helped me spell that evasive word and find the right word. Much like a word-savvy friend saying, “Oh, you mean (correct word supplied).”
Hi Jo,
When we moved we gave away our encyclopedias and even the discs that used to provide some of that same material. Now there’s Google. While writing, I probably use it at least twice, maybe more. And after moving away from friends–the internet helps me feel connected. BUT–I also love the time of day when I’m done. I put my phone away, leave my IMac and read. I forget about THE WORLD and hide in the world of the the BOOK. Hope your connection returns soon. Without net neutrality, who knows what things will be like down the long road.
Yes! Most certainly a love / hate relationship! But without it, I never would have become a part of the vibrant community of authors, bloggers, reviewers found here. Also, like you wrote the research I have been able to do with the internet has been more thorough than any library could have provided: the interior of homes and restaurants; the streets of foreign cities: Thank you Google maps and Yelp! My current WIP has characters hiking the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu so I am eternally grateful for YouTube. And I laughed aloud at your mention of lay vs lie! No matter how many times I pass the quiz on Grammar Girl I still check! :)