Technology makes writers

Linda and I had never baked bread in our lives until she was given one of those bread-making machines as a Christmas gift. Just like that we became bread bakers, at least until the machine broke down and was never replaced. When new technology makes something easier, more people are going to do it. That goes for writing, as well.

John McWhorter

Listening to a lecture by linguist John McWhorter the other day, I heard him say, "I'm a writer because of word processors." McWhorter has written several books, and I have read some of them. They are terrific. Would he never have written them had not the word processor been invented? He said he hated writing with a typewriter. Remember the bother of making corrections or doing any kind of correcting or rewriting?

Yet, being of an earlier generation, it was the typewriter that made a writer out of me. I was 13 or 14 and had never noticed any interest in writing or aptitude for it. Then my parents brought home a typewriter, and I was hooked almost immediately. Typing was so much easier than scratching something out with pen and ink, especially with my poor penmanship.

But I can imagine someone from a still earlier generation becoming a writer because of the ease of writing with a fountain pen or even a ballpoint. Certainly the invention of the printing press made writers out of many people.

Today people can write easily on their home computers, tablets and even phones. Anyone can start a blog, write reviews of books, restaurants or almost any kind of product or service, and what they write may be read by thousands of others. New technology has also made self-publishing easier and more affordable, turning many would-be authors into actual authors.

If you are over a certain age, you can probably remember a time when you didn't know anyone who had written a book. Today most of us probably know several such people. We may have even written one ourselves.

Technology may not turn us into great writers, or even good writers, but it can turn us into writers. Just ask John McWhorter. Or me.