In the current Overland, Cate Kennedy has published a fascinating essay on the distractions of the internet – and the various ways it impedes creative writing. It encourages a lack of inhibition – and worse, a lack of reflection and analysis. It privileges currency over depth. The rush to get words and thoughts published online makes them less considered, less polished.

She quotes Wells Tower, Jonathan Franzen and Zadie Smith warning of the dangers of the internet – all recommending that fiction writers work at a computer not connected. Wells Tower says:

‘As writers … we need to care hugely about each word, each syllable, its valences, its music, and we need readers who care enough and read closely enough to be susceptible to our art. I think the internet is noxious to this sort of aesthetic transaction.’

I see the wisdom in all of this. I agree with all these observations. And yet. My own experience offers a twist on this cautionary tale – not a rebuttal, but another dimension to what the internet can offer creative writers, beyond fact-checking and news gathering. Read more