Thanks, and let's keep going...

Re: Thanks, and let's keep going...

by Richard Schwier -
Number of replies: 0
It's never too late, Emma! Thanks for this wonderful contribution. I also have both kinds of devices and I use them both in just the ways you described. I particularly love your description of what you're looking for in a book -- something that captures you and refuses to turn you loose from beginning to end. I think that's a critically important point. A good book is a good book, and it is the story that makes it good. Even in non-fiction and many of the best academic books I've read, it is still about the story. There is a narrative thread that we can follow from beginning to end, and the quality of the writing stands out. In e-writing, I think we need to remember this and keep it at the forefront of our work. We have so many new affordances, and particularly varieties of media available to us, that there may be a tendency to write a book that is choppy. We can add diversions, examples, asides, and take the reader in a bunch of directions. But we may also lose the narrative thread. This probably means we need to pay extra attention to staying inside our own story as we write. Obviously, you've got me thinking, Emma. Thanks for coming to the party!