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