Untethering While Writing
The messy middle of untethering from tech (as best I can)
Note: I realized this post got paywalled and wanted to be sure everyone was able to see it. Thanks for reading, sharing, subscribing, and supporting me in all the ways you do.
Recently, someone shared a post about someone else saying that if they weren’t using AI, then they weren’t writers. Or something. I’m sure I’ve mangled it. My immediate visceral response was to go buy a typewriter. I am a regular at the papirnictvi (stationery store) where I load up on notebooks, pens, cards, postcards, etc. Which feels a bit ironic as I’ve been typing since I was 13-years old. Typing class in 8th grade, anyone? It was either that or Home Ec.
But from time to time, I need to feel the slide of the pen across the paper, and watch words come to life under my hand. Yes, I’m typing this particular post on a laptop. But in my living room is a record player, a DVD player, and a portable CD player. Do you see where I’m going with this?
I think a lot about how I write as much as what I write, and now, that we’re a few months out from The Weaver Awakes being out in the wild, how I want people to find it (spoiler: it will never be available on Amazon). I have never been a fan, so please understand, this is not a new thing. Perhaps one day I’ll write an article on my reasoning. Today is not that day.
Let’s get back to untethering. I used to think it meant divesting myself of the internet entirely. It’s taken me a while to realize there just might be a few good places left, and that I am not beholden to what everyone else does. Part of untethering is finding what works for you.
Keep in mind, I wrote for a tech recruitment firm for nearly a decade. It isn’t that I don’t understand technology. The problem is that I do. Add to that a non-fiction book that I found out later was used as a textbook in one of the universities where I live, and I understood why I’d been dog-earing pages, underlining like a fiend, and dropping notes in margins — connecting dots.
Speaking of books. A few months ago, I wrote about wondering if I’d ever be able to serialize my novel a la Dicken’s The Pickwick Papers. Yep. Check out The Weaver Awakes.
Then, I started wondering about print books. I have tried to read books online. Not a fan. I do rather enjoy audiobooks. But, print, for me, is the point of the entire endeavor. We write by hand - pen, pencil, or keys. We pick things up to read them - phone, magazine, marketing materials, whatever. The natural instinct is to experience things by touch and other senses. I walk into a library, and I feel at home. Anywhere in the world. The books and I understand each other.
At each turn of these wonderings, I have found the author, publisher, editor, community needed to take one more step away from the everyday and joining those writing into the new renaissance. Need some inspiration?
Flash Fiction, Coaching, Editing, and Publishing + community and fun artwork - The Novel Nest, LLC
World and Community Building - The Warden’s Archive
Maps and history - Cosmographia
European Black Noir, Writer’s Retreats, and Advice - The Writng Grove
Imagining a better future - The Elysian
I have learned about new systems that are being built to help artists, writers, musicians, and other creatives create into the new renaissance. Looking at you
Stampfans.com
Bookshop.org
Bookfunnel.com
Lulu.com
Metalabel.com
DFOS.com
Untethering in the way I see it now is about finding alternatives to what you want to do. Want to build your own mailing list and send product direct to your fans? Hello, stampfans! Have a book you want to be able to send globally? Lulu’s got you covered.
Oh, and if you’re in Colorado. The A-Corp has passed. Creatives now have their own limited liability status. If you look hard enough, you might find what you’re looking for. If you don’t, maybe you’re just the person to create it.