Comments on: If There Was No Internet…Would You Still Write?

By: Cindy

Cindy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:33:14 +0000

I’ve been writing in different capacities since high school, so I like to think that I’d be writing even without the internet. Yet virtually everything I’ve done outside of the internet has been unpaid volunteer writing. I much prefer to get paid, but I don’t think I would have ever realized it was possible without the internet opportunities I’ve found.

Without a college degree, I’ve always assumed journalism jobs were closed to me. Working away from home is not something I want anyway. I enjoy this flexibility of working at home, on my own time.

By: Would you write if the Internet didn’t exist?

Would you write if the Internet didn’t exist? — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:06:13 +0000

[...] the question that Deb Ng is asking over at Freelance Writing Gigs. A lot of interesting comments for that [...]

By: Jaq

Jaq — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:48:51 +0000

I’d still be writing, definitely. But I think I’ll be writing as a full-time job, employed as a writer for whatever company I apply to. I may not be a freelance writer like I am now though but I will still be a writer.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:14:55 +0000

On the flip side, I wonder if it might have been easier for certain writers. There would be far less freelancers out there and much less competition for individual jobs. Although there would be a lot less work without web content, employers would have smaller pool of candidates and might be more eager to hire.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:11:44 +0000

Great topic! I often ponder how much more difficult it must have been for freelancers before the internet–much respect to them. When I first thought of pursuing freelance writing, I didn’t know very much about it and just did a Google search. The first site that I went to had a link for job sites, this being one of them.

Since then the internet and this site in particular have been a HUGE resource. I can’t imagine looking for jobs and researching without internet access. I would like to think I would have pursued writing but probably in a more full-time organizational setting. Perhaps, after making the right editorial contacts, freelancing would have been a subsequent option–but I can’t imagine just diving right in.

By: Nacie

Nacie — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:51:16 +0000

I totally think I would still be writing in some form, but I don’t how much of it would see anyone else’s eyes but my own! I have been writing since I was a little kid, old enough to hold a crayon practically, but I never really seriously considered writing as a career until I found all the opportunities that are out there on the internet. I wasn’t around for the pre-internet days of freelancing, but I can imagine it would be really slow and frustrating, and also leave you more prone to the criticism of that special class of people that don’t consider freelance writing a “real,” or at least full-time job.

By: Damaria Senne

Damaria Senne — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:54:16 +0000

I remember the days before Internet became omnipresent, when I used to buy copies of Writers Digest each month, and go through it looking for new markets. I was just out of university, lived in a small town called Mafikeng (in South Africa). I sent out a lot of SASE envelopes then, and the local DHL guy knew me by name. Even then, I was determined to make it as a writer, despite my very remote location from the world of publishing.
If there was no Internet, I suspect I would either be working for a magazine as a writer, or a non-profit organisation in some capacity that includes materials development. That’s what I did before I discovered the world of online publishing.

By: Niki

Niki — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:17:21 +0000

I forgot to add I have medical issues like hearing loss and anxiety disorder where it easier to work on the Internet than in an office.

By: Niki

Niki — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:14:44 +0000

I would write fiction and journal, but I doubt I’d try to write professionally. I’d probably work in a library instead. In addition to writing jobs, I’ve had research-related jobs on the Internet and can not imagine my life without it.

By: Christine Senter

Christine Senter — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:45:55 +0000

I don’t know if I’d be writing for a living, but I’d still be writing. I was writing long before we got our first computer. In fact, I was typing out my stories on an old 1950′s manual typewriter before we got our first computer.

I might only be doing it for my own purposes, but yes, I’d still be writing

By: Hazel

Hazel — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:05:54 +0000

My immediate gut reaction was, of course! I’ve always been a writer. But if there weren’t an Internet, I suspect I would have looked for another retirement transition career.

I freelanced before working full-time for 27 years, and I was successful but it was hard. Freelancing is a more viable option for an old lady like me with the Internet. Now I can work anywhere (as I proved to myself for five weeks on the road in New England this summer).

Even if I had another career, though, I would still be a writer. Some things just can’t change.

By: Amanda Nicole

Amanda Nicole — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:18:24 +0000

I would definitely be writing, I just probably wouldn’t be making money at it, or not nearly as much as I am right now. Before going freelance full-time, I co-created numerous local arts reviews, literary magazines and newsletters, and I’m still asked to do the odd reading here and there when my creative work appears in them. I had to leave that fun-yet-penniless world behind when I was laid off at my part-time day job and I decided to have a go at freelancing online. My degree is in English Literature, and I think if I had to stick to print I’d be submitting to literary reviews and writing more creative work. I’ve wanted to write since I was a child, when I would write, illustrate and bind my own stories.

By: Kristen Fischer

Kristen Fischer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:34:01 +0000

Great post, Deb. I think it’s vital for people who rely on writing as income to have more than one avenue to use. I don’t just rely on the Internet–but I’m darn happy we’ve got it!!

By: Amanda Mae

Amanda Mae — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:21:53 +0000

I know I would still write as I have been writing since I could hold a pen. I think I have better chances now thanks to the internet but I have been writing short stories, and articles since elementary school. My teachers used to say thank god for editors because I was a good writer who could not spell. Now I say thank God for reference.com and firefox’s auto spell check.

If not for the internet I would do the same as I do now, it would just take longer by snail mail…

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:49:34 +0000

I probably would not have started writing without the Internet. Writing is something I always enjoyed and was good at (or so I was told). But, when I was preparing for college, I was considering either business or English as a major. But, a lot of teachers, parents etc told me that business majors were a dime a dozen and that English was a limited field and besides, you couldn’t make that much as a writer!

So, I studied industrial technology and began working in the manufacturing sector, because I thought there would always be manufacturing jogs Right! Any way, a couple of years ago, I discovered Michael Meanwell’s The Wealthy Writer, and the Net has helped me get my feet wet. I couldn’t have started with cold calling–there’s no way.
But I’ve started part time and have actually started making money.

By: wombat

wombat — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:43:13 +0000

Most of my writing is not for the web, so yes.

But it would be much harder work. Without email, much more playing phone tag. Without the web, much more work tracking down experts to interview. I’m not sure if some of what I’ve written would even be possible, since I’m often looking for experts on odd little subjects where it’s not like you can find someone who wrote a book about it.

I didn’t do this before the internet existed, so I don’t know what I might be missing – mostly it sounds like a horrifying idea!

By: Anita Bruzzese

Anita Bruzzese — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:25:35 +0000

I was a journalist and freelance writer long before the Internet. While the Internet does make the job easier, there are things I miss. For one, you had more time to think about story ideas, research them, then make the pitch. I miss that “indulgence” of taking my time. Second, I miss the closer interaction with editors. You used to be able to call and pitch over the phone, instead of dealing with e-mail. I think in many circumstances, I developed a closer, more long-lasting relationship with editors. Third, the pay was a heck of a lot better. It was considered unusual to get anything below 50 cents or $1 a word, even for the most basic articles.
Don’t get me wrong — I love the Internet. But I do think it’s not always been ALL good for freelancing…

By: Samar

Samar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:24:31 +0000

Without the internet, I probably wouldn’t even have thought it possible to make money by writing had a friend of mine not commisioned me an event to cover for the magazine she was working for.

Moving to another country soon afterwards was what got me thinking about freelancing. So no, without the internet I probably wouldn’t be writing, except in my journal.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:29:44 +0000

Wow! If there were no Internet, I would likely still be writing, but not to pay the bills. I’d probably get moving on a couple of books that are umm…still in process.

As a self-dubbed Web geek, I NEED the Internet. I’m sure I could settle into a corporate environment but I would quickly negotiate a contract to work at a remote location (i.e, my living room/home office).

Besides, if the Internet goes away, where else am I gonna watch full episodes of Sanford & Son, clips from the Democratic National Convention, and a guitar playing baby at the same time?

Answer: YouTube

I Love the Internet!

By: Skippy

Skippy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:26:52 +0000

I started writing as soon as I could, well, write (my first grade teacher asked us for three sentences, I handed in two pages). I’d have to be a writer because I can’t do much else other than act and it’s hard work to be doubly unemployed. I don’t know if I’d be a freelancer, though, or at least it would have taken me a lot longer to build up the base to be able to freelance. Most likely I’d be in journalism or working on the editorial side in publishing. But I’d rather not contemplate a world without the internet, because then I’d have to think about things like paying for newspapers, buying stamps a lot more often, talking on the phone…oh, the horror is too much!

By: RobinMarie

RobinMarie — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:20:13 +0000

I would still be a writer. A different kind of writer, obviously, but still a writer. Since I’ve been writing since I’ve learned to string sentences together, I think it’s safe to say the lack of internet wouldn’t stop me – I would probably be a journalist.

By: Christine Whitmarsh

Christine Whitmarsh — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:10:35 +0000

I started writing at age 7 with a yellow legal pad and a pencil… so I’m thinking yes, in regards to your question – just try and stop me.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:54:13 +0000

I’d be writing, because I was writing for newspapers before Al Gore invented the Internet . Had already moved to magazines pre-Internet, and was even freelancing before it.

Now if we were still on manual typewriters, I’d be toast.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:23:27 +0000

Good question, Deb. I would still write creatively (always did before the internet) but probably would still be doing the paralegal thing for my real income.

By: Misti Sandefur

Misti Sandefur — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:08:49 +0000

Like you, I was writing before the Internet, but I also worked as a CNA (certified nurses assistant). The Internet allowed me to advance my writing career and made sending query letters and etc. much easier. Without the Internet, I would continue writing and go back to the way I use to do it because without writing, I’d be lost. However, if I didn’t have the Internet, I’d probably have to start working outside the home as well. Also like you, I was never much for working for other people. I enjoy working for myself, but I’d do whatever it took to take care of my family.