I Hate Writing: 2008

I really do not enjoy writing (hence the title of this blog). Mostly I do what I have to: answer emails, build syllabi, write articles (actually think about writing articles) and the occasional birthday card my wife sets in front of me. That is the extent of my writing. What I love doing is reading - I read several blogs each day, online newspapers, gossip sites, tech sites, comics etc. I have them tab bookmarked in my browser and reading them all is a daily ritual. So why don't I spend some of that time writing a blog myself?

What I am slowly coming to understand is that as much as we tout reading as a brain engaging activity it is relatively passive when it comes to reading on the internet. I click to some point - read until I get bored (about 3.2 seconds) and then click onto something else to read. I do not have to make a commitment to what I am reading. It is a scavenger-ist activity - go in, get what I want and move on. If the video doesn't load fast enough - move on. If the article requires scrolling or going on to another page - move on. It's like I'm a rock skipping along the water - the only difference is: I never sink.

I'm not the only one that is feeling this: Nicholas Carr writing for the Atlantic Monthly is having similar feelings - in his article "Is Google making us Stupid" (link: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google) he talks about the lack of time more and more of us are spending on deep reading (like books), involved writing and other time consuming and brain engaging activities. He contends that the internet is changing the way we interface with knowledge - and we are all becoming rocks skipping along the top of the water and never diving to any depth.

But what does this have to do with my lack of writing? I'd like to say "Everything!!" - it is all Google's fault. Then I would be able to relax and know there is nothing I can do about this and continue on my happy way. The problem is that I did not enjoy writing way before the internet came into existence. I have always been a reluctant writer. Technology has not made the reluctance go away. I do use the tools that technology has developed - Inspiration, word processors, spell checkers, the internet. However none of these has changed my "feelings" about writing. They have altered the experience - but not healed my affliction. The internet has not made it any easier for me to write. But it has given me a great excuse. And that is this: what if there are just those of us that need to be the consumers of the written word - of internet content, and we were actually just born to surf. All the internet has done is set us free.