The following revised and updated blog entry was first published in 2013 in my first blog that I wrote under The Quill, the e-word, the looniness. I like the title, but though it had many followers, it was too long of a title, so I reset to this blog. This was my opening blog, my first entry into blogging. I hope you like it:

“There is a bestselling writer, definitely old school, who is adamant that using Word doc. is not writing. He contends writers write longhand, or, his choice of weapon, the typewriter.

Sholes typewriter, 1873. Museum, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I must say the statement was made some years ago and I am only 95% sure of who made the statement, and he may have revised his original opinion in the interim, which is why I won’t reveal his name.

I have written two e-book novels in my loony series (three now) and his statement fits within my view of the world. We are all a bit loony.

But consider the absurdity of the statement. Shakespeare used a quill pen to write. Had the typewriter been invented during his life, would he have rejected it because only a true writer uses a quill? Old Will would have learned how to use the new tool and be thrilled not to be continually dipping his quill in ink over and over.

The quill was the tool of Will’s day. A typewriter is a tool. A PC with Word doc. is a tool. All writers are storytellers and they use the tool that more easily tells the story. And writing in Word is far easier than a typewriter that has no spell check, no grammar check, nor needs reams of typewriter paper. With Word you can revise as you write.

That being said, the experience of Word and formatting, in my case, blogs, movie reviews, and e-book novels, is far from easy. Word may be easier than the quill and the typewriter, but both Word and Cyberspace bring their own set of problems.

And that is what led me to create a blog, one I hope you, whether a writer or not, will interact with me on, to discuss the looniness of writing in cyber world.

Speaking of spellcheck and looniness, as I wrote the previous paragraph a red line popped up under ‘looniness’ indicating it is misspelled or is not a word. But my American Heritage dictionary says otherwise.

So I hope you will join me on this journey, sharing the looniness of writing in cyber world. Quill pen anyone?”

I did not use a quill, pen and paper, or a typewriter in creating these cyber books.