On the Future of Writing, Letter Two
What will readers be reading?
This is part 2 of a series between myself and
. I am sharing my letters here and Zach will share his on his substack, Realms. Zach writes monthly sci-fi and fantasy stories for your ears and eyes to enjoy! Escape to new worlds every month on Realms.We’re talking about the “future of writing”, which also touches on other things like the future of creativity, how creatives stay creative, and how we do or not stay competitive with the rise of AI.
Missed part 1? Get caught up before continuing.
Dear Zach,
You have touched on the same anxieties that I have felt as a writer trying to get their work in front of readers. Bringing the work to readers is what dropped me into the world of publishing, trying to navigate the ever changing landscape.
You asked how you future-proof a passion for writing. I think there are several facets to this. In part, the future of reading is here now. Not in the way readers read books, but in the way books make it to the readers. I’ve needed to understand the publishing business to bring my words to readers. I’m not going to go into the nitty gritty of the publishing business here, but the biggest take away is the power technology has provided to writers. The future has removed the gatekeepers who determine which books are published and which ones are not worthy. The subjective process limited the stories that made it to readers’ hands. Through companies like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Draft 2 Digital, Ingramsparks, and so many more, writers can bound their stories and sell directly to readers. That’s an oversimplified explanation, but the future has brought this amazing technology and has made so many writers published authors, myself included.
I agree with you, Zach, that writers need to love the craft. They need to write for the sake of writing, not for the end goal of fame and glory. I wonder how long that has been true, though. Before ereaders and publish on demand, writers needed to query agents, then find an editor who understands their work. Writers wade through rejection for years in hopes of getting a yes that is just about as attainable as winning the lottery. There needed to be a love of the craft to get any writer through the insurmountable rejection. They needed to have a passion for their words to continue to stand by them and query gatekeepers in hopes of receiving their big break. How many writers have been lost to history while we still read Charles Dickens and Jane Austen because the publishing business favored their work over others? (I am by no means criticizing these amazing authors and their work, just wondering what other talented authors may have never made it onto my bookshelf.)
Writers need to get into the weeds if they want their work in front of readers, those weeds could be the long querying process or the complexity of taking on a publishing business of your own. Both come with rejection, and both are often a waiting game. No matter the journey, the writer needs to love the act of writing (and for a bonus, love aspects of the publishing business, a steep ask, I know).
So if the future of writing is here, what about the future you described, a world run by AI and virtual reality. It may be yet to come. While I hear and understand authors and other creators with their apprehensions around AI, I have to agree with Joanna Penn on the reality of our world. She often says the AI has been let out of Pandora’s box. There is no putting it back. There will be so many challenges with the technology and the world will change. We’ll have a new future of reading and books. It’s interesting to theorize while we wait.
Craig Mod, a writer and technologist at Wired, argues that the future book is already here. “Our Future Book is composed of email, tweets, YouTube videos, mailing lists, crowdfunding campaigns, PDF to .mobi converters, Amazon warehouses, and a surge of hyper-affordable offset printers in places like Hong Kong.” This makes me think of ebooks with hyperlinks, as well as interactive fiction and serial fiction, whether delivered through a specific platform or through email. This is the tremendous amount of art that you referred to in your future world. A reader will always have a new story to read on the internet.
We are definitely in a creator economy. I don’t see why the future wouldn’t continue that economy, creating that excessive surplus of content that you mentioned in your hypothetical future. There will be an infinite amount of stories, but there will also also be an infinite amount of readers. Even today, I think it’s a game of finding the right reader for your work, like Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans theory. Dave Karpf, of
substack, writes an interesting critique on this theory. He mentions niche content, which is a whole other piece of the future of reading that I have read about. I won’t go into it here, but I can later if that’s where the conversation takes us. Karpf criticizes the theory. He believes it’s not feasible in the state of the economy and the internet today and he makes some valid points. But could the 1,000 true fans become a reality in the future?Perhaps the future is serial fiction. Amazon launched Vella in 2021. Wattpad has been around since 2006. New platforms like Ream and Laterpress have also launched in the last couple years. While serial fiction has been around for hundreds of years, there seems to be a resurgence today.
Or it could be interactive fiction. I remember enjoying choose your own adventure stories when I was a kid. Today, I have read a few examples of digital interactive fiction. There is the work Plotopolis is doing, a kind of choose your own adventure through text message. There is also a gaming aspect to their storytelling, with the reader losing and gaining sanity points based on the choices they make. There is also Breathe, a digital ghost story that weaves in the reader’s location, creating a very creepy tale. Could the future of reading be interactive? Where does video game storytelling come in here? I have close to no experience with gaming storytelling. I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
You asked me if I was more work focused or goal focused with my writing. I’m going to give a bit of a cheater’s answer: I think I’m both. I have a passion for storytelling and the writing process. I have writer friends that I enjoy talking writing craft with. However, I need a goal to be working toward something. Right now they are small goals, like getting a piece of writing to my email list once a month. But I’m also looking ahead. I am working on a serial anthology right now, playing with storytelling in a shorter form while keeping the world building of a novel, a kind of best of both short and long form writing (in theory). I also hope to find time to explore interactive fiction. The storytelling medium is going to twist and change, but it’s also not going anywhere. Storytelling is human nature. Books are a part of the human condition. I definitely believe in the power of stories.
Best,
Reina
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Read Zach’s response in letter 3