Proactive Writer: Embrace Technology

Filed under Proactive Writer.

The world of modern publishing has changed. Gone are the days when writers can write a book, submit a manuscript and sit back and wait for the cash. Today, changes in technology and publishing ethos mean that writers need to be proactive in their approach to writing, publishing and promoting. I have already written about the idea of a Proactive Writer here.

In essence I suggested that a successful modern writer demonstrates four traits:

So what do I mean by embracing technology?

A Proactive Writer is the kind of writer who is excited and stimulated by the possibility technology brings, rather than one that is intimidated by change. A Proactive Writer understands that technology is a tool and that when viewed as such is an essential part of their ‘process’.

A good example of this is the rise of WordPress as the king of the blog platforms. Just a few years ago there were a number of competing platforms with Typepad, Blogger and WordPress all offering good web solutions. However, recent developments in WordPress mean that a blogger now needs very little ‘technical’ expertise to produce a very professional looking site. In addition, WordPress’ plug-in system means that bloggers need no coding knowledge to make a blog do some very fancy web based magic.

But why is this so important?

Well, as we saw in the blog post about an active and persistent online presence, a web platform is an essential element of being a Proactive Writer. By embracing technology a writer is able to produce a very good central blog/website, with next to no expertise and for very little expense.

A proactive Writer sees technology as a way to improve their writing, their platform and their ability to connect. By embracing Flickr they can share photos, by embracing Qik they can stream live feeds of books signings, by embracing Google Wave they can start and build collaborative projects, by embracing Twitter they can build communities, I could go on…

Technology is here to stay but more importantly technology will continue to change. A Proactive Writer is one that sees changing technology as an opportunity not a hurdle.

Thoughts?

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  • http://cliffordfryman.com Cliff

    Great post!

    There are so many technologies available to a writer, it is hard to mention them all. I just wanted to bring up ebooks, podcasts, and video as they can really help a writer in building a following. Use them to give away free samples of work, exclusive content, or a range of other things to help build your platform and gain real fans.

    I look forward to the next post in the series!

    • Gary Smailes

      Cliff – I just wanted to make the point that modern writers need to be using any/all technology to help build their profiles. As you said the list is endless, the important thing is that writers embrace the technology, not dismiss it our of hand. I am glad you enjoyed the post.

  • http://passwordincorrect.com Nick Name

    Gary, it’s great that you write about this. Actually technology is something which is not so easy to embrace. The more you get into it, the less inspiration is left for pure writing. The most important thing is to find way to cope with it.
    I’m too much depending on technology (in any possible manner), so my personal excuse is that today’s writer needs to know at least two languages: mother tongue and programming.
    Example: when you write/rewrite a code for your blog and put “;” into the wrong place, the whole site can be spoiled in a moment. This makes you careful about the details, when you write a short story.

    • Gary Smailes

      Nick – I understand what you are saying but I wonder if writers do really need to code? WordPress and other such platforms mean you can get up a great site with zero css or html knowledge. The purpose of my article is to say that modern writers need to embrace technology, tame it and us it to help them reach their goals. Ebooks, kindle, twitter, facebook, iphone, I could go on…

  • http://marlataviano.com Marla Taviano

    Totally agree. I’m an author married to a techy web designer (who happens to specialize in custom WordPress blogs). Besides being awesome, he’s soooo good for my writing career.

    • Gary Smailes

      Marla: I should certainly add that a Proactive Writer is one that is able to convince friends and family to help out – we all do it. :-)

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