How Connected Is Too Connected?4 March 2003 Writing is communication. Wireless technology makes constant communication easy. So it follows that anything that makes communication easier enhances writing. Or does it? I'll be the first to admit that having an "always connectable" device like a Pocket PC Phone Edition or Tungsten W makes certain aspects of the writing process easier. Especially for journalists and other nonfiction writers, adding wireless capabilities to a mobile writing platform has some compelling advantages. Deadlines are different if you're wireless. The ability to submit a document to your editor anytime, anywhere means you can wait until all the facts are in before filing (as seen in a recent commercial depicting a last-minute accord in trade negotiations). Of course, it also means you can put off writing the story longer as you don't need as much "prep time" from filing to printing. If you're one of those "start writing five minutes prior to deadline" writers--I am, and a lot of these columns have been written on Sunday nights--then this may not be a great thing. Wireless also means you can do research anytime, anywhere. By now I'm sure writers everywhere are familiar with the power and wonder that is Google, and I use the mobile version all the time for research. Google's news service is great, too. I can even hit Webster's dictionary website if I'm in a pinch. This is a real productivity boost if it means I don't have to wait until I get home to finish a story or article. That said, ubiquitous connectivity has a downside. For all the wonderful advantages wireless may offer for writing, sometimes communication is the last thing you want while you're writing. Email is a great way to stay in touch, but it can also be a considerable distraction. If I make the mistake of having an active email connection open while I'm writing, I'll be interrupted every five minutes by a pop-up window notifying me that I have email. Even if I'm not online, SMS messages come in randomly and take focus away from what I'm writing (as a matter of fact, that happened to me while writing the preceding sentence). Once you finish your research and sit down to write an actual draft, disconnect the wireless. And just in case the notifications weren't bad enough, I have one more reason to go offline when it's time to start writing. Most writers are naturally curious people. Many also have a "love/hate" relationship with writing and will jump at any excuse not to write, especially if the words aren't flowing easily that day. And what better excuse to avoid writing than that hot email that just came in, one that you just have to read? I subscribe to a lot of mailing lists, and when the newest digest of messages comes in from the eBook Community, it's tough to keep my stylus moving. If you have enough iron will, you can tune out email. For those of you using WiFi (802.11b/g) for connectivity, the problem ends there. For telephony-based wireless solutions (Pocket PC Phone Edition, Handspring Treo, Palm Tungsten W, etc.), there's a whole new plane of Hell: incoming voice calls. Voice has an urgency and immediacy that email lacks. When a call comes in, we've been conditioned to think it's rude not to take it, no matter what we're doing that it's interrupting. I've had whole two-hour writing sessions blown by friends calling to chat, nothing really urgent. Just the same, we take these calls and often don't bother to say "hey, I'm in the middle of something; can I call you back later?" After all, there's always more time to write and is that really more important than catching up with a dear friend? If you're fighting a deadline, hell yes. Wireless and other mobile technology won't always help you beat a deadline--I'm posting this article a day late because I worked 75 hours last week at CompUSA and didn't have time to write, mobile or otherwise--but you take every advantage you can get as a writer. Your friends and family presumably know you're a writer and they'll understand. So turn the phone off, ignore your email and get to work. Wireless tools are great for the stuff you do before writing, but writing itself is all about recording one word after another. And that still has to be done the old-fashioned way. Jeff Kirvin
Jeff Kirvin is available for consulting on mobile technology. Email me today! |