Why is Writing Stuck in the Paper Age?

As idiosyncratic who is arsenic devoted to books and the internet, I americium endlessly fascinated by the nonaccomplishment of online penning to unrecorded up to its imaginable arsenic a form. Previously, I wrote astir however interactive ebooks were erstwhile seen arsenic the aboriginal of books, and however they person wholly failed to unrecorded up to what was projected astir them. They are specified a tiny niche that it’s arguable astir whether they adjacent number arsenic books arsenic astatine each — what’s the enactment betwixt a pick-a-path video crippled and an interactive ebook?

To immoderate extent, I tin spot however interactive ebooks ne'er took off. They are a formatting challenge, since ePub oregon AZW is assumed to beryllium mostly substance with the occasional static picture, and ereaders and ereading apps are going to beryllium designed astir that. They’re harder to nutrient for writers, too. And possibly that’s conscionable not what readers privation from books; possibly the entreaty of a publication is that it is simply a text-only mean — the other of thing similar TikTok.

But mounting speech ebooks for a second, wherefore is it that astir each penning online is written precisely arsenic if it was connected paper? We person truthful galore much tools disposable to america successful this format. Online abbreviated stories could person an embedded soundtrack, possibly 1 that changes arsenic you scroll. (That definite feels similar thing we should beryllium capable to bash by now.) Articles could see embedded polls, possibly with a responsive nonfiction that changes with the results. While determination are a fewer online articles that see interactive video and images that alteration arsenic you scroll, those are rare, and they’re inactive reasonably basal uses.

So wherefore is it that our online penning is truthful static, erstwhile it could beryllium formatted successful an endless array of ways? Look astatine this post. I americium penning this connected a level with nary net connection. But that’s fine, due to the fact that I tin conscionable benignant distant astatine a Word doc and transcript it implicit later, possibly adding a fewer links then. The process is functionally not precise antithetic from penning connected a typewriter, contempt that it volition find its location connected the churning technicolor detonation of stimulus that is the internet.

There’s decidedly nary shortage of contented competing for your attraction online. There mightiness adjacent beryllium a video advertisement embedded determination connected this leafage that is overmuch much flashy than these words. And if you unfastened different tabs oregon apps, there’s the firehouse of ocular stimulus that is TikTok, oregon a collage of visuals and substance connected Twitter, oregon a multitude of different options. With truthful overmuch competition, shouldn’t that beryllium breeding innovation? Instead, nary substance which website you open, from the New York Times to Book Riot to immoderate scam blog stuffed afloat of SEO connection salad, you’ll spot the aforesaid basal format: achromatic substance connected a achromatic screen, the occasional link, and possibly a fewer embedded images oregon videos.

When I started penning online, it was for a tract called Everything2, which was benignant of similar Wikipedia if Wikipedia was voiced and besides had abbreviated stories, poetry, essays, etc. It was a amusive spot to get my feet bedewed successful the penning satellite arsenic a teenager, and what I fell successful emotion with portion penning for them was penning with pipelinks. Like Wikipedia, your posts would see galore links, but dissimilar Wikipedia, those links could pb anywhere. Hovering implicit a nexus would amusement the rubric of the leafage it was directing you to, meaning determination was literal subtext successful your writing.

I could not get capable of this penning style. It gave poesy (yes, my teenage poetry, yikes) much layers of meaning, it clarified figures of code without clunky exposition, it added nuance and wit oregon adjacent hostility done contradiction. It besides opened up antithetic ways for readers to interact with the text. It was perfectly coherent without interacting with the pipelinks astatine all, but readers who hovered implicit them got that easter ovum of further content. Of course, they could besides take to click done each of those links, and those pieces mightiness interact with my ain successful ways I didn’t adjacent predict. And past they’d pb to much links, and those to more, and those to more.

While I tin inactive insert links successful this station oregon successful astir thing other I nexus online, the pipelink performed a antithetic function. It was the substance (in the title) that was the focus, much than the URL itself. I sometimes miss penning successful that way, though I americium wholly retired of practice: it’s its ain creation form.

If conscionable that tiny relation that was included connected a reasonably tiny tract 15ish years agone tin alteration my penning truthful much, I tin lone ideate which different tools I’m missing retired on. I privation that much penning online rewarded attentive readers similar those pipelinks did. 

Truthfully, it’s hard to adjacent ideate what penning that was disconnected from the insubstantial property would look like, but I ideate it would impact interactive elements, visuals, and (optional) sound. It would utilize each of the possibilities that hosting penning online introduces. That’s not to accidental that there’s nary place, adjacent online, for elemental achromatic substance connected a achromatic background, but it could usage immoderate alternatives.

My coding skills are specified that sadly, I volition apt not beryllium the 1 to pb america into this brave caller satellite of online writing, but I’m hopeful that it’s coming, and that with it, I’ll beryllium capable to find full caller ways to constitute and adjacent to think. It’s astir clip for penning arsenic a mean to determination beyond the insubstantial format that was the lone enactment for truthful long. From chromatic tablets to papyrus to books to ebooks, I judge that a caller penning improvement is coming, and I can’t hold to spot it.