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How has technology changed the world of fiction? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by E.C. Myers, author of four YA novels (the Andre Norton Award-winning Fair Coin, Quantum Coin, The Silence of Six, and Against All Silence) and short stories, most recently in the YA anthologies Feral Youth and Behind the Song and co-author on the science fiction serial ReMade, ecmyers.net and Twitter, on Quora:
There are a few areas in which technology has completely changed how writers create stories today than how they wrote, say, twenty or even thirty years ago. The internet is the biggest one; it has made research (and finding agents and publishers) so much easier than in ye olden days. I can find books, articles, blogs, and Wikipedia entries on pretty much any topic; use Google Maps to visit places I can’t afford to travel to; watch YouTube videos and films and documentaries to get visual and auditory details I can use in my writing and learn more about different subjects.
The internet also increases the potential for distraction, with social media, and e-mail, and even the danger of going down a research rabbit hole. Another big change is accessibility—of readers to authors and authors to reviews and reviewers. That dynamic has completely changed, breaking down some of the barriers and creating more direct connections between authors and readers (and reviewers) than was ever possible before, as well as the instant gratification of knowing what people think of your work, for better or worse.
The tools have also changed a bit, with most writers now using computers and laptops, which make it technically easier to write, as well as the availability of software like Scrivener which can potentially change your whole approach to writing. There’s also more access to technology to create eBooks and self-publish, crowdfund, and so on—giving authors new ways to share their work and make a living from their writing.
And then there’s the darker side of technology, where the internet has also made it easier than ever to pirate fiction. That’s just one of the side effects of the advent of eBooks, which is still affecting the way novels are acquired and published, and how authors are paid. Publishing is going through a tremendous sea change right now, and more and more authors are adapting a hybrid approach that sticks with the traditional model while also embracing self-publishing as a viable alternative—with publishers also experimenting with new ways of telling and distributing stories.
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