Writers - Don't Become Technologically Weakened

I was thinking about this yesterday as I was fighting with one more element of technology to supposedly "make my life easier." Hrummph! There was no making things easier. The technology simply was slowing me down. In any case, I was thinking about this when it comes to writing. Modern day authors are always spending countless hours, not to mention unbelieveable amounts of money on technology, just to make their writing better. In the end, in my honest opinion, the writing really hasn't gotten better, and, dare I say it, maybe it has gone down hill.

Take grammar checkers. We all seem to think that we don't really need to learn grammar because our grammar checkers will fix it all. The funny part is that the majority of you writers out there have no idea that your grammar checkers are not doing all that you think. When I was in Fresno at the Yosemite RWA writers chapter, we were talking about this. The majority of the writers didn't know that they were missing over 80% of the items in their writing because their grammar checker wasn't looking for the items. And for all these years, they relied on that grammar.

You don't need the lastest iPad, the newest software, or word recognition software. No, you don't need to be on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all of the other social network sites. And no, you don't need to spend hours and money creating a video book trailer to improve as a writer. It takes intelligence. It takes creativity and yes, it takes a lot of hardwork. There are no technological shortcuts.

For a week, just as a practice, make a conscious effort to return to the writing basics. I dare you. Pull out a legal pad and a pen. No pencils because if you make a mistake, I don't want you to erase. I want to see a real rough draft. You might be amazed at the quality of the writing.

Scott