Current Project: A novella, CHASING RAINBOWS
Status: Final edits
Earlier this week, I had the honor of attending a memorial service for one of my aunts. Since she died last week at 97 years of age, I've been thinking of all that has happened in the world since she was born in 1911. From the first flights of experimental aircraft to men landing on the moon. From horses as the main mode of transportation to a maze of roads that support millions of automobiles.
Of course, writing and publishing have also taken giant strides in the past 100 years. Manual typewriters such as this Underwood were standard from the 1870s until electric typewriters were introduced in the mid-1950s. I remember wheeling and dealing with my parents for an electric typewriter. We didn't have a lot of money and my typewriter ended up being a combination Christmas/graduation gift, plus I chipped in some money I earned from waiting tables. After I graduated from high school and went to work, having a self-correcting typewriter was heaven! Then personal computers were introduced in the 1980s and typewriters became relegated to antique status.
In the printing arena, the Model 1 Linotype Linecasting Machine was introduced in the early 1890s. The Linotype name is still recognized in printing today. Strachan & Henshaw developed the first paperback book press with rubber printing plates and a low cost inking system which enabled paperback books to be mass produced inexpensively. Now print-on-demand books that produce a book in one process are also becoming more popular. Electronic books, introduced in the 1990s, veered away from printed books entirely.So will traditional paper-bound books go away? Some sources suggest that short stories and poems would do well online since they could be listened to or read while commuting (on a bus, please--not while driving!) In addition, one online article says, "Many fantasy fans ... have already put aside books and logged on to 'virtual worlds' such as 'World of Warcraft,' in which muscular heroes and heroines get together to slay dragons and such like."
For research purposes, I really like digitized reference books--perhaps with hyperlinks to other sources (like the online thesaurus or Wikipedia). I'm also intrigued by the idea of video books--a combination of video and electronic books.
However, when I'm pouring the bubbles in the tub for a soak, I don't reach for a laptop or an ebook reader. (Ay-yi-yi if these should fall in the water!) A paper-bound book is still my choice. I found that sentiment echoed online. People want the experience and emotions of holding a book and being swept into an imaginary world. So I find myself liking a mix of mediums for books. What about you? Are there new mediums for books that you use or that fascinate you? Or are you devoted to paper-bound books?
4 comments:
Genene, this is a hard one to answer in some ways. I am very attracted by the possibilities that electronic book readers like the Kindle offer. The quick downloading of a new book, the fact I won't have to find shelf space...etc. If they were less expensive, I think I would have bought one by now. My books are electronic as well as print -- how handy would it be to share a book with a reader without having to snail mail it?
On the other hand, I love the emotion (well put) that goes with holding a book. I like the yellowing pages on a really old one, the folded down corners, even the musty smell of a much used book in a tropical resort book trading room has its appeal. And I also like to read in the tub!
On a different note, I remember writing confessions on a typewriter. I never wrote a book on one though, thank heavens because I can't really type. I have to stare at my keyboard and watch my two little fingers find all the right keys. I am very fast and fairly accurate, but it means I can't transcribe from one printed source to another without looking at the print, looking at the keyboard, looking at the print...ad infinitum...
When I had to change something in a confession, say a piece of dialogue on page 4 of a 30 page story, I would spend forever making sure the last word on that page tied in with the first word on page 5. The thought of retyping the whole thing was out of the question. It made for some very tricky fix-ups, though.
I love my computer. I'm going to kiss it right now.
Great post, Genene!
I remember the "antique" typewriter we had at our house. I don't even know how we obtained it, but it looked a lot like the one in your post. I used it to write plays for our stuffed animals.
In high school we learned on electric typewriters and that's what I had when I first started writing. Like Alice, I'd do anything to keep from having to type the whole ms over (probably why I hate revising/editing my work) As soon as they had personal computers affordable, I bought one and loved it! The first time I could just put the cursor in the middle of already written text and start typing, I jumped around like a crazy woman!
I like the easy availability of the e-books, but like everyone else- I love print books for their feel, the smell, the ability to read in the bathtub.
LOL, Alice! "I love my computer. I'm going to kiss it right now." This is great! I did not mourn the passing of typewriters either. Though not 30 pages long, one job I had required an original and six carbons with no errors (they were contracts). I'm a fast typist, but not necessarily accurate. I rekeyed a lot. :)
It will be interesting how ebooks shape up now that some big-money players are taking an interest in them.
Hi, Paty! Do you still have some of those plays you wrote for your stuffed animals? Wouldn't it be interesting to go back and read those? How cool that you were a writer as a child also.
It's interesting that as writers we love technology to write our books but like the feel and experience of an older medium to read those books. :)
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