Gadget graph grabs my attention

Have e-book readers, tablets, and portable devices really taken over the world? I thought so until I saw this graphic.
Sure cell phones have reached a 91 percent level among those over 18, and I knew desktop computers were decreasing in popularity, due to the portability and ease of laptop use, which is still increasing.


But for all we hear about ebooks taking over the book market, look at the low usage of e-readers and tablets... below that of MP3 players! So don't give up on traditional or independent publishing. People are still reading books, although their sales may have peaked in 2008, according to Pew Internet. But publishers aren't going away, and neither are readers!

(Click on image to enlarge)
Thanks to Jane Friedman and her blog for linking to this Pew Internet research graphic.

Introvert vs. Extrovert Writers

Introvert vs. Extrovert Writers

In a travel piece on World Hum, Sophia Dembling states:

"Introversion and extroversion are inborn traits, and the difference between them is not that one is gregarious and at ease in the world and the other shy and awkward. Rather, extroverts are outwardly motivated and gain energy from interaction with the outside world while introverts are more inwardly directed and drained by interaction with others. Introverts’ thinking tends to be deep and slow, we require copious time alone, we prefer probing conversation to shallow chitchat, and our social lives are geared more towards intimate one-on-one interactions than “more the merrier” free-for-alls."

Most writers and bloggers share the extremes of introvert or extrovert tendencies in writing as well as in social interaction. If you love the quiet, prefer to write alone, shun the questions about your writing, and run fast when the conversation turns to critique groups, you're a darn good introvert.

If you're an extroverted writer you probably prefer to hear people tell you their stories, and you write in public, enjoy sharing your work-in-progress, and trading stories with other writers about the craft.

Either way, you're doing what's right for you, of course, but its nice to recognize your tendencies and take comfort in silence or among friends, as long as it feeds your hunger to write and helps you write well.

"Still Writing"

Read Still Writing: The Perils of a Creative Life, by Dani Shapiro, (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013)

Shapiro is a contributing editor at Travel & Leisure. Her one-page essays exemplify good solid writing in each issue. She is the author of two memoirs and five novels, as well as numerous stories and essays that appear in Granta, The New Yorker, and Vogue, among other prestigious publications. Now, in Still Writing, she writes for you. Every writer can admire Shapiro's swift skill stringing thoughts into words, but she also empowers us. She transports readers who hear her views on the privilege of being a writer, and the relentless need to put in the time! Still Writing refers not only to keeping at our craft, but also still writing... being still, getting out of your own way, to become open and aware.

“Everything I know about life,
I learned from the daily practice of sitting down to write.”

-- Dani Shapiro

The web is 25 years old this year!

It was a quarter century ago that a fellow named Tim Berners-Lee created the web as we know it. three cheers for Tim!!!

Here's his story
Twenty-five years ago today, I filed the proposal for what was to become the World Wide Web. My boss dubbed it ‘vague but exciting’. Luckily, he thought enough of the idea to allow me to quietly work on it on the side. 

In the following quarter-century, the Web has changed the world in ways that I never could have imagined. There have been many exciting advances.  It has generated billions of dollars in economic growth, turned data into the gold of the 21st century, unleashed innovation in education and healthcare, whittled away geographic and social boundaries, revolutionised the media, and forced a reinvention of politics in many countries by enabling constant two-way dialogue between the rulers and the ruled.

It has made the work of a writer more powerful, efficient, and far-reaching. We are the first generation to enjoy this benefit. Lets continue to use it well.

Helen Gallagher

Feeling stuck?

If the winter weather has your writing in a rut, consider these wise words from a former US President, and keep writing!

"Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction."

                                                                                                                                  — Harry Truman