Technology Narrative

            Writing has always been very important to me and has undergone many changes in my own lifetime with the introduction of faster more efficient computers and the Internet.  I can still remember from a very young age writing short fiction stories on my mothers old typewriter and being thrilled at how easy it seemed.  It was nice to have a machine that could help you readily put your thoughts to paper and it seemed as though this was the only way to get serious writing accomplished.  Now that I am older however I have mixed feelings about technology especially in regards to the writing process.

            Technology has certainly enabled us to work at a much faster rate of production but I’m not so sure that this is always a good thing.  For instance if composing a short fiction story I sometimes feel much more connected to the story and characters if I take the extra time to handwrite each line. The advancement in technology is great for getting your thoughts out immediately and efficiently but I think we sometimes lose a certain degree of quality when we overuse the computers ability.  There is something more personal and meaningful to take the time to make sure that each line you handwrite is really what you want to place on the page. 

            I am not personally very familiar with many programs outside of the basics like Microsoft office.  I have worked with a program called VB designer to learn a little bit about programming code but that was rather short lived, as it was only one semester of training.

            I see a great importance in the familiarization of writing with the aid of computers.  In an age where information is available on a second to second basis it is impossible to escape the fact that we will all need to be as skilled as possible with writing at the computer in order to stay viable in whatever field we work in whether it be writing, business, etc. 

            My only fear with this age of rapid technology is that we will lose some of the quality that once came along with being forced to sit and handwrite a story or work with a typewriter.  I often think of some of the great writers from many years ago and how painstaking it must have been to sit and handwrite a 300 page novel, yet they felt so passionate about it that they had to do it whether it was easy or not.  I hope with the right mindset and discipline we will use our technology to our advantage and retain the quality that ought to go with it.