An article I read in the TimesOnline, The Internet is killing storytelling, brought up some very valid concerns.
From Twitter, to Facebook and including our own beloved blogs, the art of true storytelling is being lost because readership has been lost. As readers, even if we do find time in our hectic lives to actually sit down and pick up a book, our ability to concentrate on a lengthy narrative has been compromised. Now, an entire generation has been raised to absorb news, information and recreational reading in micro-bits and pieces and "tweets." A 10k email is a considered a "tome" by Internet standards.
Our distressing literary A.D.D. actually validates opinions expressed in another article that I recently read (I'm such a little Magpie!), "Should You Write Short or Long Blog Posts?" Following the readers' comments, I noticed that most bloggers agreed that short posts—around 300 words—seem to have greater impact. However, no one was anxious to be held to a hard-and-fast "RULE" regarding the length.
Once upon a time, before the invention of the printing press took over the job for us, itinerant storytellers traveled far and wide, honing their craft as they spun amazing tales in exchange for a hot meal and a cot near the fire. One book I read, IRELAND—A Novel by Frank Delaney, captured the magic of an old-school Irish storyteller in a written story that I will never forget. What bittersweet irony!
But I wonder, is all this brewhaha over the death of the lengthy written narrative really so dissimilar to the slow decline and virtual demise of humanity's long-standing, oral storytelling traditions? Is the Internet really killing storytelling?
Heh. You tell me, because I've just maxed-out your 300-word limit here.
~ Robin
"The Internet has evolved a new species of magpie reader, gathering bright little buttons of knowledge, before hopping on to the next shiny thing."
From Twitter, to Facebook and including our own beloved blogs, the art of true storytelling is being lost because readership has been lost. As readers, even if we do find time in our hectic lives to actually sit down and pick up a book, our ability to concentrate on a lengthy narrative has been compromised. Now, an entire generation has been raised to absorb news, information and recreational reading in micro-bits and pieces and "tweets." A 10k email is a considered a "tome" by Internet standards.
Our distressing literary A.D.D. actually validates opinions expressed in another article that I recently read (I'm such a little Magpie!), "Should You Write Short or Long Blog Posts?" Following the readers' comments, I noticed that most bloggers agreed that short posts—around 300 words—seem to have greater impact. However, no one was anxious to be held to a hard-and-fast "RULE" regarding the length.
Once upon a time, before the invention of the printing press took over the job for us, itinerant storytellers traveled far and wide, honing their craft as they spun amazing tales in exchange for a hot meal and a cot near the fire. One book I read, IRELAND—A Novel by Frank Delaney, captured the magic of an old-school Irish storyteller in a written story that I will never forget. What bittersweet irony!
But I wonder, is all this brewhaha over the death of the lengthy written narrative really so dissimilar to the slow decline and virtual demise of humanity's long-standing, oral storytelling traditions? Is the Internet really killing storytelling?
Heh. You tell me, because I've just maxed-out your 300-word limit here.
~ Robin
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